One aim of studying chemical transformations at the interface of nanomaterials by advanced characterization methods is to identify the working microstructures at molecular and mesoscopic dimensions to explore relevant structure–function relations. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) is an effective characterization tool that enables us to directly observe and reveal the microstructures of materials [
1]. In its earlier time, TEM was mostly used for the study of the defect structure of thin specimens [
2]. This is possible since diffracted electrons can be used to form images in a TEM by various contrast mechanisms. The Howie–Whelan equation describing the transmissions of direct and diffracted electron beams laid the foundations for understanding diffraction contrast in TEM [
3,
4]. Linear defects (dislocations) and planar defects (translation boundary, grain boundary, phase boundary) can be analyzed in fine detail [
5]. One example is the identification of stacking faults in the face-centered cubic (FCC) material by strong-beam images recorded by bright- and dark-field images using strongly excited direct or diffracted beam, respectively [
6]. An example is Cu nanoparticles (NPs) used for the synthesis of methanol from CO
2 and hydrogen exhibiting stacking fault and twin boundary imaged by TEM (Fig.
1) and quantified by neutron scattering [
7,
8]. These investigations revealed [
9] the relevance of these defects for the catalytic function. Weak-beam dark-field microscopy [
10] is a dedicated but powerful technique to image dislocations [
11], particularly dissociated dislocations in materials [
12]. While the diagnostic function of TEM in materials science to identify structure fault is indispensable, the well-established convergent beam electron diffraction (CBED), historically the oldest TEM diffraction technique, was developed by Kossel and Moellenstedt in 1938 [
13], long before the well-known selected-area diffraction by Le Poole in 1947 [
14]. It can be used to determine the structure by providing crystallographic information on unit cell, lattice parameters, crystal system, and 3-dimensional (3D) crystal symmetry (point group and space group). CBED is also a powerful tool to study strain in samples and to determine the specimen thickness [
15]. Apart from these breakthroughs, many additional milestones in the history of TEM were essential to arrive at the present toolbox of sophisticated methods [
1] in the family of electron microscopies indicated in Fig.
2. The Nobel Prize for Ernst Ruska in 1986 recognized this, although multiple game-changing inventions, namely, the correction methods for aberrations of electron lenses, contributed later to the toolbox.