PRL 106, 248302 (2011) The atomic scale lithiation mechanism of individual SnO2 nanowires in a flooding geometry was revealed by in situ transmission electron microscopy. The lithiation was initiated by the formation of multiple stripes with a width of a few nanometers parallel to the (020) plane traversing the entire wires, serving as multiple reaction fronts for later stages of lithiation.
Nano Letters, DOI: 10.1021/nl200412p
Although deformation processes in submicron-sized metallic crystals are
well documented, the direct observation of deformation mechanisms in
crystals with dimensions below the sub-10-nm range is currently lacking.
Here, through in situ high-resolution transmission electron
microscopy (HRTEM) observations, we show that (1) in sharp contrast to
what happens in bulk materials, in which plasticity is mediated by
dislocation emission from Frank-Read sources and multiplication, partial
dislocations emitted from free surfaces dominate the deformation of
Huang et al, Science 330, 1515-1520 (2010) (download pdf , or online version);Read a perspective written by Prof. Yet-Ming Chiang, Science 330, 1485 (2010);
What does a dislocation look like in a spherical geometry, and how does it migrate in such a structure? We report here the counterintuitive motion of the 1/2⟨0001⟩ edge dislocation in carbon onions from the outer surface to the inner core, i.e. from a low pressure surface to a high pressure core, rather than from the core to the surface as expected due to a surface image force. Maybe you can help us to explain this peculiar phenomenon.
Nature Nanotechnology, Feb. 14, 2010. DOI: 10.1038/NNANO.2010.4, Yang Lu, Jian Yu Huang, Chao Wang, Shouheng Sun and Jun Lou