Congratulations to Andrei Khlobystov, Professor of Nanomaterials and Director of the Nanoscale and Microscale Research Centre (nmRC), who has been awarded an Established Career EPSRC Fellowship titled “ChemTEM: Triggering, Controlling and Imaging Chemical Reactions at the Single-Molecule Level by Electron Beam”.
ChemTEM enables the imaging of individual molecules and the observation of their fate through an entire reaction, from reactant via intermediate to product. Using state-of-the-art transmission electron microscopy (TEM) techniques and taking advantage of what in most instances is a problem - sample damage caused by the electron beam - ChemTEM induces a chemical reaction, by virtue of the energy provided by the electron beam. The technique therefore allows the imaging of a reaction at the same time it is induced.
The principles and methodology of ChemTEM developed in this project have the potential to become an revolutionary imaging and analytical tool for molecular reactions, complementing and bolstering current spectroscopy, diffraction and scanning probe micrsocopy (SPM) methods. ChemTEM will image reaction pathways in direct space at the single-molecule level and will enable the elucidation of reaction mechanisms of important chemical processes, such as C-C bond formation and dissociation, dehydrogenation and polycondensation reactions, leading to the improved preparative synthesis of high-value materials and the design of alternative catalysts. In addition, ChemTEM has great potential for the discovery of entirely new types of chemical reactions that can transform not only the way we study molecules but also launch a new wave of research in synthetic chemistry, which currently relies on a relatively small number of reaction types.
More on Andrei's exciting research can be found by visiting his research group's webpages and reading the recent Chemistry World article on ChemTEM.
Posted on Wednesday 18th April 2018