Speaker
Description
Soft matter systems exhibit dynamic structural fluctuations that govern their mechanical properties and functionality across biological, colloidal, and polymeric materials. However, probing these nanoscale fluctuations in liquid environments with high spatial and temporal resolution remains a significant experimental challenge. Here, we present a framework that combines Liquid Transmission Electron Microscopy (L-TEM) [1,2] with flicker spectroscopy [3] to quantitatively investigate the nanomechanics of soft matter. By exploiting the high-resolution imaging capabilities of L-TEM, we directly visualize thermally driven fluctuations of soft interfaces and analyze their fluctuation spectra to extract key mechanical parameters. This approach enables quantitative mechanical characterization with nanometer-scale spatial resolution while preserving the native liquid environment. We demonstrate the versatility of the method on representative soft matter systems, revealing how nanoscale mechanical heterogeneity and dynamic behavior emerge from their underlying structure. Our results establish L-TEM coupled with flicker spectroscopy as a powerful platform for bridging structural imaging and quantitative nanomechanical measurements, providing new opportunities for studying responsive materials, and fluctuating soft interfaces under realistic conditions.
References:
1. Frances M Ross etal, Oppertunities and challenges in liquid cell electron microscopy, Science 350, aaa9886 (2015).
2. G. Ing etal, Imaging A aggregation by Liquid Phase Transmission Electron Microscopy, bioRxiv, (2024) doi: 10.1101/2024.01.29.577710
3. Entropy-driven tension and bending elasticity in condensed-fluid membranes, PRL 64, 2094-2097 (1990).