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1Clear out junk files and repair common Windows errors2Fix the driver behind crashes, sound loss and screen glitches3Repair Windows errors before they cause bigger problemsNanocrystals do not always grow one atom at a time. Studies have directly observed atoms attaching to crystals, whole particles joining through coalescence, and particles aligning before they attach. Which route occurs depends on the material and synthesis conditions; no single pathway describes all nanocrystal growth.
How do nanocrystals grow?
Growth follows nucleation, when the first stable crystal nuclei form, but it need not proceed by a single, uniform sequence. Researchers have observed atomic attachment and particle-level processes, including coalescence and oriented attachment. These findings come from different materials and experimental conditions, so they describe possible routes rather than universal stages for every nanocrystal.
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For example, liquid-cell STEM observations of platinum nanocrystals found two broad growth stages: atomic attachment first, followed by particle attachment through different atomic pathways. That result is specific to the studied platinum system. The 2021 platinum study
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What is the difference between atom attachment and particle attachment?
The key distinction is what joins the growing crystal: individual atoms or monomers, or particles that already contain crystal structure. Particle attachment can also involve alignment before contact, which is the defining feature of oriented attachment.
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| Observed route | What joins | What happens before or during joining | Example in the cited studies |
|---|---|---|---|
| Atomic or monomer attachment | Atoms or monomers | They add to the growing crystal; pre-alignment of whole particles is not part of this definition. | Observed in the platinum study and described as the classical growth route in the CaF2 study. |
| Particle coalescence | Whole particles | Particles merge; crystallographic alignment before contact is not required by the term. | Favored in the studied AEP-capped CaF2 preparations. |
| Oriented attachment | Whole particles | Particles align crystallographically before attaching. | Observed in the studied ZnO system; the study reports forces and torques at separations beyond 5 nm. |
The studies do not establish that one route is inherently better. They concern different materials, solutions, and conditions, and the resulting crystal structure can differ.
What is oriented attachment?
In oriented attachment, particles rotate or move into crystallographic alignment and then join, rather than simply colliding in any orientation. In the ZnO system studied in liquid-cell microscopy, researchers reported forces and torques acting at separations beyond 5 nm, with particles becoming co-aligned before final contact. The TEM fluid cell confines the liquid quasi-two-dimensionally; the authors note that this can affect diffusivity and help oriented attachment dominate. The observations therefore should not be taken as proof that unconstrained bulk synthesis behaves identically. The 2020 ZnO study
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Another reported example comes from iron-oxide observations discussed by Berkeley Lab News Center in 2012. Researcher James J. De Yoreo described particles rotating and interacting until they matched, followed by contact at a very short range: “We observed the particles undergoing continuous rotation and interaction until they found a perfect lattice match at which point a sudden jump-to-contact occurred over a distance of less than one nanometer.” This account applies to those iron-oxide observations, not to every oriented-attachment system. Berkeley Lab’s report
Can the same material grow by different routes?
Yes. The CaF2 study found that synthesis conditions were associated with different routes in the same material: AEP favored particle coalescence, while citrate favored classical growth by monomer attachment. This is a direct reason not to treat a material name alone as enough to predict its growth mechanism. The 2021 CaF2 and SrF2 study
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Growth route can affect crystal structure
In that study, many coalesced AEP-capped CaF2 nanocrystals had twinning defects. The citrate-capped nanocrystals were described as crystalline without those observed defects. This is a reported difference between those preparations, not a general rule that coalescence always produces defects or that monomer attachment never does.
What have newer direct observations added?
A 2026 in situ ACE-TEM study of NaCl nanocrystals reports stepwise elongation of lattice fringes, with the step size consistent with NaCl interatomic spacing, alongside attachment of a rotating cluster-like feature interpreted as a metastable cluster. The authors characterize the observations as bridging classical and non-classical growth pathways. This is a reported result for that NaCl study, not evidence that all nanocrystals grow through such clusters.
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How do researchers observe nanocrystal growth?
Different tools answer different questions. Liquid-phase electron microscopy can show particle motion, alignment, and attachment directly within the observed cell. In situ NMR instead tracks solution-phase changes, including nanocrystal size and reactant-related signals over time. Neither method removes the need to consider what the measurement environment captures—or misses.
Liquid-phase TEM and STEM
Liquid-cell TEM or STEM can record dynamic events such as particles rotating, approaching, attaching, or changing shape. The platinum and ZnO studies used liquid-cell imaging to investigate growth pathways. These observations provide direct views of motion, but a TEM fluid cell is a confined environment; in the ZnO work, quasi-two-dimensional confinement affected diffusivity and favored oriented attachment.
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In situ NMR
The 2021 CaF2 and SrF2 study used high-resolution 19F-NMR to monitor fluoride nanocrystals in water and validated size estimates against cryo-TEM and HR-TEM. Across the sampled CaF2 and SrF2 preparations, NMR-derived sizes correlated with HR-TEM measurements at r-squared = 0.989. For AEP-CaF2 nanocrystals in water, the study calculated an average diameter of 4.1 nm from high-resolution 19F-NMR. Both figures describe those sampled preparations, not nanocrystals generally.
The NMR approach did not capture the early, rapid nucleation phase. It can therefore clarify solution-phase growth evolution without necessarily recording the earliest events that establish the first nuclei. Methods and results in the NMR study
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