Structural engineering of graphene for high‐resolution cryo‐electron microscopy

Abstract The revolutionary improvement of hardware and algorithm in cryogenic electron microscopy (cryo‐EM) has made it a routine method to obtain structures of macromolecules at near‐atomic resolution. Nevertheless, this technique still faces many challenges. The structure‐solving efficiency of cry...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Jie Xu, Xiaoya Cui, Nan Liu, Yanan Chen, Hong‐Wei Wang
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Wiley 2021-07-01
Series:SmartMat
Subjects:
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1002/smm2.1045
Description
Summary:Abstract The revolutionary improvement of hardware and algorithm in cryogenic electron microscopy (cryo‐EM) has made it a routine method to obtain structures of macromolecules at near‐atomic resolution. Nevertheless, this technique still faces many challenges. The structure‐solving efficiency of cryo‐EM can be significantly reduced by the biomolecules' denaturation on the air–water interfaces, the preferred orientation, strong background noise from supporting films and particle motion, and so forth. To overcome these problems, nanomaterials with ultrahigh electronic conductivity and ultrathin thickness are explored as promising cryo‐EM specimen supporting films. Herein, we summarize the structural engineering of graphene, for example, surface and interface modification, as supporting films for grids and the application on high‐resolution cryo‐EM and discuss potential future perspectives.
ISSN:2688-819X