In Situ Interfacial Manipulation of Metastable States Between Nucleation and Decomposition of Single Bismuth Nanoparticle (Phys. Status Solidi B 3/2019)

The reversible phase transition of bismuth on Bi nanowire is manipulated by e‐beam irradiation. Taking advantage of an electron beam to induce the direct growth of Bi nanodroplets on the Bi nanowire, the transformation between solidification and liquidation processes within the nanoparticle is studied by high‐resolution transmission electron microscope (HRTEM). Xing Wu, Litao Sun and co‐workers (article no. 1800442) observed the whole process of nucleation, coalescence, decomposition and metastable states in single bismuth nanoparticles. The interfacial metastable states are found to be the main reason to manipulate the nucleation or decomposition of the nanoparticle during the phase transition. This study helps to observe the critical process, reduce the gap between theory and experiment for reducing the interfacial area to improve the energy storage efficiency.