Invited by Science, a prestigious peer-reviewed journal, a scientist's team aired their views on metal nanoparticle charge research. 

Professor Gao Chuanbo from the Frontier Institute of Science and Technology, Xi'an Jiaotong University (XJTU) analyzed the latest progress of electron holography in the precise determination of the charge state of single-particle nanoparticles in collaboration with Professor Osamu Terasaki, an electron microscopy expert at ShanghaiTech University.

Focusing on electron holography -- a fresh new method for the determination ofdetermining metal nanoparticles' charge state -- the team recognizes explains its value in understanding the microscopic electronic properties of metal nanoparticles and their catalytic properties.

With the potential to determine the charge state of a wide variety of nanomaterials and nanostructures, such as porous open framework materials for instance, the new twist is expected to reshape the storage and release mechanisms of hydrogen and carbon dioxide.

This technique may also be extended to the sub-nanometer characterization of electron spin states in materials, thus providing  new means for the microscopic analysis of magnetic nanomaterials.

More views can be found in the paper, Counting charges per metal nanoparticle.