Ptychographic Imaging of Branched Colloidal Nanocrystals Embedded in Free-Standing Thick Polystyrene Films

摘要

Research on composite materials is facing, among others, the challenging task of incorporating nanocrystals, and their superstructures, in polymer matrices. Electron microscopy can typically image nanometre-scale structures embedded in thin polymer films, but not in films that are micron size thick. Here, X-ray Ptychography was used to visualize, with a resolution of a few tens of nanometers, how CdSe/CdS octapod-shaped nanocrystals self-assemble in polystyrene films of 24 ± 4 μm, providing a unique means for non-destructive investigation of nanoparticles distribution and organization in thick polymer films.