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Updated: Mar 30, 2026

Liquid-cell Transmission Electron Microscopy for Tracking Self-assembly of Nanoparticles
Published on: October 16, 2017
Guided Self-Assembly of Nano-Precipitates into Mesocrystals
1Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Monash University, Clayton, Victoria 3800, Australia.
Abstract:
We show by a combination of computer simulation and experimental characterization guided self-assembly of coherent nano-precipitates into a mesocrystal having a honeycomb structure in bulk materials. The structure consists of different orientation variants of a product phase precipitated out of the parent phase by heterogeneous nucleation on a hexagonal dislocation network. The predicted honeycomb mesocrystal has been confirmed by experimental observations in an Mg-Y-Nd alloy. The structure and lattice parameters of the mesocrystal and the size of the nano-precipitates are readily tuneable, offering ample opportunities to tailor its properties for a wide range of technological applications.
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