Related Experiment Video
Updated: May 31, 2026

Studying the Effects of Temperature on the Nucleation and Growth of Nanoparticles by Liquid-Cell Transmission Electron Microscopy
Published on: February 17, 2021
Enthalpy and entropy of nanoparticle association from temperature-dependent cryo-TEM
Jos van Rijssel1, Ben H Erné, Johannes D Meeldijk
1Van 't Hoff Laboratory for Physical and Colloid Chemistry, Debye Institute for Nanomaterials Science, Utrecht University, Padualaan 8, 3584 CH Utrecht, The Netherlands.
Abstract:
Quantum dots form equilibrium structures in liquid dispersions, due to thermodynamic forces that are often hard to quantify. Analysis of these structures, visualized using cryogenic electron microscopy, yields their formation free energy. Here we show that the nanoparticle interaction free energy can be further separated into the enthalpic and entropic contributions, using the temperature dependence of the assembled structures. Monodisperse oleic acid-capped PbSe nanoparticles dispersed in decalin were used as a model system, and the temperature-dependent equilibrium structures were imaged by cryo-TEM, after quenching from different initial temperatures. The interaction enthalpy and entropy follow from van 't Hoff's exact equation for the temperature dependence of thermodynamic equilibria, now applied to associating nanoparticles. The enthalpic component gives the magnitude of the contact interaction, which is crucial information in understanding the energetics of the self-assembly of nanoparticles into ordered structures.
Related Concept Videos
Enthalpy of Solution
Third Law of Thermodynamics
Phase Transitions: Melting and Freezing
Aqueous Solutions and Heats of Hydration
When ionic compounds dissolve in water, the ions in the solid separate and disperse uniformly throughout the solution because water molecules surround and solvate the ions, reducing the strong electrostatic forces between them. This process...
Entropy
Entropy and Solvation

