In Situ Transmission Electron Microscopy of Plasma-Driven Nanoparticle Synthesis in Solution

We report on the real-time visualization of gold nanoparticle nucleation, growth, and coalescence in a thin ionic liquid film using a newly developed <i>in situ</i> plasma–liquid transmission electron microscopy platform.

Monomer attachment is identified as the dominant growth process, and the measured growth rates suggest a nucleation-limited regime. Trajectory analysis reveals enhanced nucleation near the film edge, likely due to an increased monomer concentration caused by plasma-induced solvent evaporation. The reported observations provide critical insights into mechanisms and rate-limiting processes and can provide guidance for PDSE-enabled process development to achieve the rapid synthesis of colloidal nanomaterials with a narrow size distribution.