Exploring nanomaterials with 3D electron microscopy

In this review we focus on recent developments in the field of 3D imaging at the nanoscale, when applied to nanomaterials and nanostructures. We demonstrate, by highlighting examples, that recent progress in the use of electron microscopy techniques based on tomography allows one to fill the gap between the development of new materials and their structures and characterization. A special emphasis is put on two new 3D approaches: quantitative and analytical 3D tomography. The first approach gives access to the quantitative exploration of specific parameters within nano-objects and/or nanostructures while the latter, based on electron energy loss spectroscopy, details the 3D chemical composition of such systems at the nanometre scale.