Electrons Make Shells, Photons Make Boxes: Unmasking Radiation Chemistry in Liquid-Phase Imaging.

Authors

Babak Alavi, Joanna Depciuch, Mohammad Sadegh Shakeri, Kamil Sobczak, Krzysztof Matlak, Magdalena Parlinska

Published in

Small (Weinheim an der Bergstrasse, Germany). Pages e75209. Aug 13, 2026. Epub Aug 13, 2026.

Abstract

Beam-induced chemistry in liquid-phase imaging is now recognized as a key factor in interpreting nanoscale redox processes, yet its consequences depend strongly on the irradiation modality, solvent chemistry, and reacting material system. Here, we compare how soft X-ray and electron irradiation redirect the same galvanic replacement reaction between Cu₂O nanocubes and gold precursors. In this model system, soft X-ray irradiation generates an oxidizing environment that promotes Cu₂O dissolution and hollow Au nanobox formation, whereas electron irradiation favors surface-confined Au deposition and Au@Cu₂O core-shell architectures. Adjusting the solution chemistry during LC-TEM restores the hollowing pathway, showing that the local beam-induced chemical environment controls the balance between deposition and dissolution. These findings demonstrate that, in Cu₂O-Au galvanic replacement, the imaging beam is not merely a passive probe, but can actively reshape the observed nanoscale reaction pathway.

PMID:
42591016
Bibliographic data and abstract were imported from PubMed on 13 Aug 2026.

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