Abstract
Cryogenic electron microscopy (cryo-EM) has extensively boosted structural biology research since the “resolution revolution” in the year of 2013 which was soon awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 2017. The advances in camera techniques and software algorithms enabled cryo-EM to routinely characterize the three-dimensional structures of biomolecules at near-atomic resolution. Biomolecules are basically sensitive to electron irradiation damage, which can be minimized at cryo-temperature. This principle has inspired material scientists to characterize electron beam- or air-sensitive materials by cryo-EM, such as the electrodes in the lithium-ion battery, metal-organic frameworks (MOFs), covalent-organic frameworks (COFs) and zeolites. In addition, the reaction systems can be fast-frozen at vitreous ice in cryo-EM, which correspondingly preserves the materials at the close-to-native state. Herein, we summarized the development and applications of both the cryo-EM technique and other emerging cryo-techniques in materials science, and energy storage and conversion. Cryo-EM techniques, capable of the direct observation of sensitive materials and electrochemical reaction processes, will greatly renew our understanding of materials science and related mechanisms.
摘要
自2013年“分辨率革命”以来, 冷冻电子显微镜(cryo-EM)广泛推动了结构生物学研究的发展, 并很快在2017年荣获诺贝尔化学奖. 相机技术和软件算法的进步使cryo-EM得以实现对生物分子三维结构的近原子分辨率表征. 生物分子通常对电子辐照损伤较为敏感, 而低温可以将辐照损伤最小化. 这一原理启发了材料科学家利用cryo-EM表征电子束或空气敏感型材料, 例如锂离子电池中的电极、金属有机框架(MOFs)、共价有机框架(COFs)和沸石. 此外, 在cryo-EM中, 反应体系可在玻璃冰状态快速冻结, 从而保存材料的近初始状态. 在此, 我们回顾了cryo-EM和其他新兴冷冻技术的发展及其在材料科学、能源存储与转换等领域的应用. Cryo-EM技术能够直观地观察敏感材料和电催化反应过程, 将极大地革新学界对材料科学及其相关机制的理解.
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Acknowledgements
This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (52171219 and 91963113).
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Zhang J, Wen J, Cui X, and Chen Y conceived the structure of the review. Zhang J and Wen J participated in the analysis, drawing, and writing of the review. Liu WD, Cui X, and Chen Y revised the draft before submission. All authors co-edited the final version of the manuscript.
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Jingchao Zhang obtained his bachelor’s degree from Shandong University of Science and Technology. He is currently a master candidate of materials science and engineering, Tianjin University. His research direction is lithium ion batteries.
Jie Wen obtained his master’s degree from Beijing Jiaotong University. He is currently a PhD student at the School of Life Sciences, Tsinghua University. His research focuses on structural biology based on electron microscopy.
Xiaoya Cui is a research fellow of Shuimu Tsinghua Scholar Program and Advanced Innovative Fellow at Tsinghua University. She received her PhD and Master degrees from Nanyang Technological University in 2021 and Tsinghua University in 2015, respectively. Her research mainly focuses on the structural engineering of 2D nanomaterials and their applications for cryo-EM. Her research interests include nanomaterials synthesis, surface/interface modification of 2D nanomaterials, electrocatalysis and cryo-EM.
Yanan Chen is a professor at the School of Materials Science and Engineering, Tianjin University. He received his joint PhD from the University of Science and Technology Beijing/University of Maryland in 2017. He was an Advanced Innovative Fellow at Tsinghua University before joining Tianjin University. His research mainly focuses on nanomaterials, devices, and systems for advanced energy storage and conversion. His research interests include nanomaterials synthesis and nanomanufacturing, emerging Li-ion energy storage and beyond, catalysis, and cryo-EM.
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Zhang, J., Wen, J., Liu, WD. et al. Cryo-EM for nanomaterials: Progress and perspective. Sci. China Mater. 65, 2613–2626 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40843-022-2120-8
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s40843-022-2120-8