How atoms organize during the earliest stages of nucleation has been a subject of speculation for over a century. Using atomically resolved electron microscopy, the formation and ordering of metal clusters from individual atoms has now been observed in carbon nanotubes that serve as ‘test tubes’.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
References
Gibbs, J. W. The collected works of J. Willard Gibbs (Yale Univ. Press, 1948).
De Yoreo, J. J. et al. Science 349, aaa6760 (2015).
Vekilov, P. G. Nanoscale 2, 2346–2357 (2010).
Gebauer, D., Volkel, A. & Colfen, H. Science 322, 1819–1822 (2008).
Cao, K. et. al Nat. Chem. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41557-020-0538-9 (2020).
Ostwald, W. Z. Phys. Chem. 22, 289 (1897).
Stranski, I. N. & Totomanow, D. Z. Phys. Chem. 163A, 399–408 (1933).
tenWolde, P. R. & Frenkel, D. Science 277, 1975–1978 (1997).
Ranade, M. R. et al. Proc. Natl Acad. Sci. USA 99, 6476–6481 (2002).
Navrotsky, A. Proc. Natl Acad. Sci. USA 101, 12096–12101 (2004).
Burton, W. K., Cabrera, N. & Frank, F. C. Philos. Trans. R. Soc. A 243, 299–358 (1951).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
Competing interests
The authors declare no competing interests.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
De Yoreo, J.J., Legg, B.A. What atoms do when they get together. Nat. Chem. 12, 883–885 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41557-020-0523-3
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41557-020-0523-3
- Springer Nature Limited