Search research articles

ABOUT JoVE

Overview Leadership Blog JoVE Help Center

AUTHORS

Publishing Process Editorial Board Scope & Policies Peer Review FAQ Submit

LIBRARIANS

Testimonials Subscriptions Access Resources Library Advisory Board FAQ

RESEARCH

JoVE Journal Methods Collections JoVE Encyclopedia of Experiments Archive

EDUCATION

JoVE Core JoVE Business JoVE Science Education JoVE Lab Manual Faculty Resource Center Faculty Site

Terms & Conditions of Use

Related Concept Videos

You might also read

Related Articles

Articles linked to this work by shared authors, journal, and citation graph.

Sort by

Same author

Expression of tissue factor pathway inhibitor-2 in gastric stromal tumor and its clinical significance.

Experimental and therapeutic medicine·2014

Same author

Facile access to cytocompatible multicompartment micelles with adjustable Janus-cores from A-block-B-graft-C terpolymers prepared by combination of ROP and ATRP.

Colloids and surfaces. B, Biointerfaces·2014

Same author

Functional layers for Zn(II) ion detection: from molecular design to optical fiber sensors.

The journal of physical chemistry. B·2013

Same author

Expression of the 78 kD glucose-regulated protein is induced by endoplasmic reticulum stress in the development of hepatopulmonary syndrome.

Gene·2013

Same author

Multi-nuclear silver(I) and copper(I) complexes: a novel bonding mode for bispyridylpyrrolides.

Dalton transactions (Cambridge, England : 2003)·2013

Same author

Transcriptome profilings of female Schistosoma japonicum reveal significant differential expression of genes after pairing.

Parasitology research·2013

Search research articles

Related Experiment Video

Updated: Nov 24, 2025

Utilization of Capsules for Negative Staining of Viral Samples within Biocontainment

Utilization of Capsules for Negative Staining of Viral Samples within Biocontainment

Published on: July 19, 2017

A simple method to clean ligand contamination on TEM grids.

Chen Li¹, Adrian Pedrazo Tardajos¹, Da Wang¹

¹Electron microscopy for Materials research (EMAT), University of Antwerp, Groenenborgerlaan 171, 2020 Antwerpen, Belgium.

Ultramicroscopy

|December 21, 2020

Summary

This summary is machine-generated.

This study introduces a simple method using activated carbon and ethanol to clean colloidal nanoparticles (NPs) on transmission electron microscopy (TEM) grids. This cleaning process effectively reduces carbon contamination, significantly improving image quality for nanomaterial analysis.

Keywords:

Colloidal nanoparticles Contamination Ligands TEM

More Related Videos

Protein Purification-free Method of Binding Affinity Determination by Microscale Thermophoresis

Protein Purification-free Method of Binding Affinity Determination by Microscale Thermophoresis

Published on: August 15, 2013

Ultrastructural Localization of Endogenous LC3 by On-Section Correlative Light-Electron Microscopy

Ultrastructural Localization of Endogenous LC3 by On-Section Correlative Light-Electron Microscopy

Published on: March 31, 2023

Related Experiment Videos

Last Updated: Nov 24, 2025

Utilization of Capsules for Negative Staining of Viral Samples within Biocontainment

Utilization of Capsules for Negative Staining of Viral Samples within Biocontainment

Published on: July 19, 2017

Protein Purification-free Method of Binding Affinity Determination by Microscale Thermophoresis

Protein Purification-free Method of Binding Affinity Determination by Microscale Thermophoresis

Published on: August 15, 2013

Ultrastructural Localization of Endogenous LC3 by On-Section Correlative Light-Electron Microscopy

Ultrastructural Localization of Endogenous LC3 by On-Section Correlative Light-Electron Microscopy

Published on: March 31, 2023

Area of Science:

Materials Science
Nanotechnology
Electron Microscopy

Background:

Colloidal nanoparticles (NPs) synthesized chemically often possess organic ligands.
These ligands cause significant carbon contamination during transmission electron microscopy (TEM) analysis due to electron beam-induced deposition.
Contamination is particularly severe in scanning TEM (STEM) owing to higher electron dose rates.

Purpose of the Study:

To develop a straightforward and efficient method for cleaning TEM grids with ligand-coated NPs.
To mitigate electron beam-induced carbon contamination in TEM imaging of nanomaterials.
To enhance the quality of electron microscopy images and analytical measurements.

Main Methods:

Utilizing a combination of activated carbon and ethanol for cleaning TEM grids.
Applying the cleaning method to drop-cast TEM grids containing NPs with organic ligands.
Evaluating the reduction of ligands and subsequent improvement in image quality.

Main Results:

The activated carbon and ethanol treatment effectively reduces the amount of organic ligands on TEM grids.
A significant decrease in electron beam-induced carbon contamination was observed.
The quality of TEM images and the reliability of subsequent analytical measurements were greatly improved.

Conclusions:

The developed method provides an efficient and facile way to clean ligand-coated NPs on TEM grids.
This technique is broadly applicable to various nanomaterials susceptible to ligand-induced contamination.
Improved sample preparation enhances the investigation of nanomaterial structures and properties via electron microscopy.