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Researcher

Bals

  • Research Expertise:Sara Bals is an expert in the application and development of electron tomography for functional nanomaterials. By combining state-of-the-art electron microscopy with advanced 3D reconstruction algorithms, the positions and chemical nature of individual atoms in a nanomaterial are measured (Nature Materials 2012, Advanced Materials 2022). Similar measurements are now also performed under realistic conditions including heating, liquid or gas flow (Nano Letters 2018, Accounts of Chemical Research 2021, 2xScience 2023), which is essential for the further optimization of nanomaterials under working conditions. The importance of her work is reflected by the many results obtained in the framework of her ERC Starting grant (COLOURATOM) in 2012, and her ongoing ERC Consolidator grant (REALNANO). In addition to her work on 3D imagining, Sara Bals and her team have significantly progressed the development of ultraclean graphene grids (HYPERGRAPH ERC POC), which is a technology that is currently under patent application (EP2937313, EP2144711). These grids recently enabled the direct visualization of surface ligands.
  • Keywords:ELECTRON MICROSCOPY (QUANTITATIVE), ELECTRON MICROSCOPY (SCANNING), ELECTRON MICROSCOPY (TRANSMISSION), NANOMATERIALS, NANOPARTICLES, TOMOGRAPHY
  • Disciplines:Condensed matter physics and nanophysics, Materials physics, Optical physics
  • Research techniques:Transmission electron microscopy, Electron tomography
  • Users of research expertise:Academic and industrial partners with focus on nano materials