AVS 60th International Symposium and Exhibition
    Atom Probe Tomography Focus Topic Wednesday Sessions
       Session AP+AS+MI+NS+SS-WeA

Paper AP+AS+MI+NS+SS-WeA12
Quantitative Three-Dimensional Compositional Analysis of Geologic Minerals using Atom-Probe Tomography

Wednesday, October 30, 2013, 5:40 pm, Room 203 A

Session: APT and FIM Analysis of Catalysts and Nanoscale Materials
Presenter: J. Liu, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory
Authors: J. Liu, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory
D.E. Perea, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory
R.J. Colby, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory
B. Arey, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory
O. Qafoku, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory
A. Felmy, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory
Correspondent: Click to Email
Carbon capture and sequestration within deep geological formations has become one of the most important options to mitigate the ever-growing environmental CO2 emissions. The olivine group of minerals, X2SiO4 where X = Mg or Fe, hold promise as potential media to sequester carbon. Upon reaction of supercritical CO2 (sc-CO2) with fayalite (Fe2SiO4) or forsterite (Mg2SiO4), various oxide and carbonate phases result accompanied by a complex change in surface morphology. A combination of atom probe tomography (APT) and scanning transmission electron microscopy (STEM) is being used to map the complex composition across various site-specific interfaces in order to better understand the complex phases that form upon reaction with sc-CO2. The advantage of APT analysis is that it can provide a unique 3-D atomic-scale compositional map with a part-per-million sensitivity to allow tomographic mapping of low-level impurities such as Li. Optimization of the APT analysis conditions will be discussed leading to the optimal stoichiometric composition. The results demonstrate the viability of using APT analysis to study the composition geological minerals for energy and environmental applications.