Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) is an important and versatile method for investigating catalyst materials, like the materials that are being investigated at the MPI CEC. Using this technique, samples can be imaged with atomic resolution. Additionally, information about the elemental composition and the electronic structure can be obtained. Such investigations are usually performed by TEM-specialists which can lead to restrictions concerning the number of possible measurements and the turnaround time.

In a collaboration of the two electron microscopy groups at the MPI CEC and the FHI Berlin together with Thermo Fisher Scientific, a solution for this problem was developed: ChemiTEM. This is a set of standardized workflows which allow non-expert TEM users to perform investigations using TEM. Thus, more members of the institute can perform electron microscopy on their own samples. For an easier access to the workflows, they were integrated in an app for tablets and smartphones which guides the users step by step through the measurement procedures. Using the app, training times for new users could be reduced significantly.

The ChemiTEM workflows were recently published by a team led by Dr. Walid Hetaba in an article in the journal Chemistry-Methods (https://doi.org/10.1002/cmtd.202100001). Additionally, a comparison of microscopical data acquired by a TEM expert and ChemiTEM users is reported in the same article. Due to the steep learning curve, ChemiTEM users can acquire data of comparable quality to that of TEM experts after a very short training period.

The editorial board of the journal highlighted this work with a Front Cover in the current issue (09/2021).  

Original publication: Hetaba, W., Imlau, R., Duarte-Correa, L., Lamoth, M., Kujawa, S., Lunkenbein, T. (2021). ChemiTEM – Transmission Electron Microscopy Optimized for Chemistry and Material Science, Chemistry-Methods, 1(9), 401-407. https://doi.org/10.1002/cmtd.202100001