Fig. 5

Pipelines of the different spatial phenotyping technologies used in elemental phenotyping imaging. a Microindentation enables basic elemental mapping using a microindenter. It is easy to use but has relatively low sensitivity and spatial resolution. b Nanoindentation enables an improved indentation function with a smaller gap between indentation points and can reach a spatial resolution of 100 μm. However, it has a lower imaging area compared with microindentation. c Atomic force microscopy (AFM) uses a cantilever as a nanoindenter with a spatial resolution of up to 1–5 nm. It enables mechanical testing at the molecular level. However, it requires a steep learning curve with a narrow window for imaging. This figure was created with BioRender.com