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Nanocrystals can grow in more than one way: atoms or monomers may add to a crystal, whole particles may merge, or particles may align before attaching. Which route occurs depends on the material and synthesis conditions. Direct observations show that growth is not always a steady, atom-by-atom process.
How do nanocrystals grow?
A nanocrystal is a tiny particle with an ordered crystal structure. It can get larger as atoms or molecular building blocks—often called monomers—attach to its surface. But researchers have also observed particles joining other particles, sometimes after aligning their crystal lattices. These are different pathways, not competing explanations for every material.
The route can change even for the same material when the synthesis conditions change. It can also affect the resulting crystal structure, so the mechanism matters beyond simply determining particle size.
What are the main growth pathways?
Atomic or monomer attachment
In this pathway, atoms or monomers add to a growing crystal rather than an entire particle joining it. In platinum studied with in-situ liquid-cell scanning transmission electron microscopy (STEM), growth after nucleation proceeded in two broad stages: atomic attachment first, followed by particle attachment through different atomic pathways. The result shows that a single material’s growth can involve more than one mechanism over time. The platinum study was published in Scientific Reports in 2021.
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Particle coalescence
Coalescence occurs when whole nanocrystals merge. In a 2021 Nature Communications study of calcium fluoride (CaF2), the choice of surface-capping molecule mattered: AEP favored coalescence, while citrate favored classical growth through monomer attachment. The coalesced AEP-capped particles often showed twinning defects; citrate-capped particles were described as crystalline without those observed defects. These are findings for the studied CaF2 preparations, not a general ranking of the two growth routes. The CaF2 study also examined strontium fluoride (SrF2).
Oriented attachment
Oriented attachment is a type of particle attachment in which separate crystals align crystallographically before joining. In a liquid-cell TEM study of zinc oxide (ZnO), researchers reported forces and torques acting at separations well beyond 5 nm, with particles coaligning before final contact. The TEM fluid cell’s quasi-two-dimensional confinement affected particle diffusivity and helped oriented attachment dominate in those observations. The ZnO study appeared in Nature Communications in 2020.
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An earlier report on iron-oxide particles described continuous rotation and interaction before a sudden jump to contact at a separation of less than one nanometer. As researcher James J. De Yoreo put it, “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.” That account applies to the reported iron-oxide observations; it should not be assumed for every material or oriented-attachment event. Berkeley Lab’s report describes the observation.
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Both. The answer depends on the material, solution, surface chemistry, and stage of growth. The CaF2 results are a direct example of conditions changing the route: AEP favored particle coalescence, whereas citrate favored classical monomer attachment. The platinum observations show that atomic and particle attachment can also occur in sequence within one studied system.
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For particle attachment, whether the crystals align before contact is a key distinction. Oriented attachment involves crystallographic alignment; coalescence does not necessarily imply that same pre-contact alignment. In either case, ligands and solvent can influence how particles move and interact, while the resulting crystal may contain defects or other structural features.
How do researchers observe nanocrystal growth?
Liquid-phase electron microscopy
Liquid-cell TEM and STEM can image particles moving, rotating, aligning, and attaching in a liquid environment. This makes them useful for seeing dynamic events that would be difficult to infer from a final crystal alone. But a fluid cell is an experimental environment: in the ZnO work, confinement changed diffusivity. An observed pathway in a cell therefore should not automatically be treated as the dominant route in unconstrained bulk synthesis.
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In-situ NMR
In-situ nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) follows solution-phase changes, including nanocrystal size and reactant behavior, rather than filming individual particle collisions. In the CaF2 and SrF2 study, NMR size estimates were checked against cryo-TEM and high-resolution TEM. The method did not capture the early, rapid nucleation phase, so its account of growth does not cover every moment from the start of synthesis.
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Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.What has direct observation added?
It has made clear that growth can combine processes that a final particle image alone might not reveal. For example, a 2026 study using atomic-resolution environmental TEM (ACE-TEM) reported stepwise elongation of NaCl lattice fringes, with step sizes consistent with NaCl interatomic spacing, alongside attachment of a rotating cluster-like feature consistent with a metastable cluster. The authors characterized those observations as bridging classical and non-classical growth pathways. This is a reported result for the studied NaCl system, not evidence that all nanocrystals grow by the same hybrid route.
Taken together, these observations replace a one-size-fits-all picture with a more precise question: what attaches, under which conditions, and what structure results? The answer needs to stay tied to the material and measurement that produced it.
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