Year 2008, we accomplished in attaching gold nanoparticles to the surface of carbon nanotubes. Besides the use of this newly created material, one can also try to melt the gold by using the in-situ TEM-SPM method to drive an electric current through the carbon nanotube, and so we did. The YouTube movie below shows the melting process. What's interesting are the carbon nanocages left behind. We can control the size of the particles and therefore the size of these nanocages.

The published paper regarding this is:

Carbon nanocages grown by gold templating

Carbon 48 (2010) 424

Direct link to paper at science direct

Another useful thing in melting attached nanoparticles in the in-situ TEM-SPM method is for temperature estimate. Usually the melting point of the nanoparticles is known and when they melt this says something about the temperature in the nanoptube. Temperature is usually hard to directly measure and is often calculated from a modell, which in turn depends on the unknown input power due to the unknown contact resistance of the two probe measurement system that the TEM-SPM is. Of-course if one would like, the contact resistance can be modelled instead, in a reverse matter that is, if one knew the temperature as in the case of melting nanoparticles.

-Now I am almost up to date with my hopeless left behind in-situ TEM blog.

Magnus Hummelgård