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A breakthrough in nano-imaging technology under extremely high pressure
According to a report released by the Physicist Organization Network on April 10 (Beijing time), American scientists have achieved a significant breakthrough in analyzing the structure of nanomaterials under extreme high pressure. For the first time, they successfully addressed the issue of severe distortion in high-energy X-ray beams when imaging gold nanocrystals. This advancement is expected to enable researchers to develop new nanomaterials under high-pressure conditions and deepen our understanding of the processes occurring deep within the Earth. The findings were recently published in the journal *Nature Communications* on April 9.
Yang Wenge, lead author of the study and a researcher at the Carnegie Institute's High Voltage Collaborative Union, explained that the only effective way to study how high pressure affects gold nanocrystals and other materials is through high-energy X-rays produced by synchrotron radiation sources. These sources generate highly coherent X-rays capable of three-dimensional imaging with a resolution down to tens of nanometers—far superior to traditional incoherent X-ray imaging used for chemical analysis, which typically only achieves micrometer-level resolution. However, under high pressure, these coherent X-ray beams often suffer from severe distortion.
To overcome this challenge, the research team employed a clever approach: by averaging scattering patterns from the same crystals using different sample orientations and applying advanced algorithms developed by scientists at the London Nanotechnology Center, they managed to correct the distortion and boost spatial resolution by two orders of magnitude.
The experiments were conducted at the Advanced Photon Source at Argonne National Laboratory in the U.S. During the test, a 400-nanometer gold crystal was subjected to pressures ranging from 8,000 to 64,000 times atmospheric pressure—conditions similar to those found in the Earth’s upper mantle. As expected, the crystal’s edges became sharp and strained under pressure. However, what surprised the team was that as pressure increased further, the strain disappeared entirely, and the crystal transformed into a more rounded shape.
Yang Wenge noted that gold nanoparticles are highly valuable due to their exceptional properties. Compared to larger particles, they exhibit about 60% greater hardness, making them essential in the production of advanced molecular electrodes, nanoscale coatings, and other cutting-edge materials. This new technology could significantly impact these fields.
Robinson added, “Now that we’ve solved the beam distortion issue, we can better observe how nanocrystal structures change under high pressure. This opens the door to answering key questions, such as why nanocrystals become so much harder than bulk materials under intense pressure.†(Reporter Liu Xia)