Abstract
Extraordinarily high thermal-resistance of self-assembled supramolecular nanotubes has been discovered by in-situ transmission electron microscopy (in-situ TEM). By combining intense electron-beam irradiation and heating, the structure transformation and 1273 K sustainable thermal stability of the complex C32H70N2ZnSO4 nanotubes were directly observed. Associated chemical-bond breaking and self-organization processes are considered as main factors for the significant structural transformation. The reorganized concentric multi-walled nanotube structure with measured layer spacing of similar to 2.7 nin is of such structural rigidity that it exhibits excellent thermal stability. The findings open new opportunities and show great significance for further investigations on diverse molecular architectures with the in-situ TEM platform for both fundamental and technological interest.