The Lost Treasure of Electron Microscopy
Unpublished images should be brought to light to aid science communication and speed up discovery.
By Valentine Ananikov, 2025-10-16T13:30:00+01:00. Unpublished images should be brought to light to aid science communication and speed up discovery. Source: NM Ivanova, AS Kashin and VP Ananikov, Chemistry, 2025, 7, 160.
A few years ago, the author was preparing a popular lecture for a wide audience, aiming to show the beauty of chemistry through images taken with an electron microscope.
The author recalled a project with stunning pictures of a metal-on-carbon catalyst, featuring striking variations in morphology, resembling a fantastic landscape from another planet – craters, valleys, and mountains frozen in nanoscale.
Many striking images were hidden in the ‘lost’ electron microscope data, including these crystals of sodium chloride.
Author's summary: Unpublished electron microscopy images can aid science communication.