Envisioning Experiments
under the Microscope
Created for a publication in JACS for the Yao Yang group at Cornell, the artwork shows the use of a liquid electrochemistry holder in a transmission electron microscope to capture the generation of dendrite formation from electrical influence and heat. The purpose of the artwork was to visualize the impact of electrical current and high temperatures on dendrite formation while also accurately displaying the components on the TEM holder such as the electrode and TEM environment. The artwork was created using Blender and rendered using Cycles.
Operando Heating and Cooling Electrochemical 4D-STEM Probing Nanoscale Dynamics at Solid–Liquid Interfaces, Sungin Kim, Valentin Briega-Martos, Shikai Liu, Kwanghwi Je, Chuqiao Shi, Katherine Marusak Stephens, Steven E. Zeltmann, Zhijing Zhang, Rafael Guzman-Soriano, Wenqi Li, Jiahong Jiang, Juhyung Choi, Yafet J. Negash, Franklin S. Walden II, Nelson L. Marthe Jr., Patrick S. Wellborn, Yaofeng Guo, John Damiano, Yimo Han, Erik H. Thiede, and Yao Yang, Journal of the American Chemical Society 2025147 (27), 23654-23671, DOI: 10.1021/jacs.5c05005
The Process
The bottom images show experimental renders when starting the project, used to test structure, light physics, and configuration. The most interesting element on this project, contributing significantly to the scene, was the use of shadows and reflections. This technique ultimately led to the illusion of a liquid environment and change in temperature.
