Hummingbird Scientific launched the first commercial liquid-cell TEM holder in 2006 and award-winning liquid-electrochemical holder in 2008, allowing liquid-electrochemical experiments inside the TEM. Now, Hummingbird Scientific’s new optical liquid-electrochemistry holder allows for the application of light inside an in-situ TEM liquid-electrochemical cell. The optical liquid holder provides optical feedthrough which allows the user to conduct photosensitive and electro(chemical) experiments in a liquid environment in the TEM and directly observe the effect of light on material behavior.
The new optical holder addresses the need for light application capabilities in the fields of photocatalysis, photoelectrochemistry, and photochemistry. Potential research may focus on water splitting with the use of catalytic materials, for example using H2 generation as a fuel source, or CO2 conversion for liquid fuel.