New technique for nanoparticle self-assembly established

25 October 2009

Researchers have found a new technique for self-assembly of nanoparticles and the technique can induce nanoparticles to form complex structures that can be used for numerous applications. Researchers at Berkeley Lab of US Department of Energy found that by adding a specific molecule to the mixtures of nanoparticles, the self-assembly process increases.

A well-designed nanoparticle is must for specific applications especially in the field of medicine and energy. The spatial arrangement in nanoparticles can enhance or minimize the specific properties of the nanoparticles and designing such particles is one of the challenge before the scientists. Researchers now believe that by adding a particular type of substance in the polymer solution can enhance the desired nanoparticle arrays in one, two or three dimensions.

Researchers further found that the additional inputs such as heat and light can also catalyze the self-assembly process. Ting Xu and her team of researchers at Berkeley Lab found that the small molecules first attach themselves with the nanoparticle and later attach with copolymer surface along with the attached nanoparticle. Xu took surfactants dubbed with two types of molecules PDP and OPAP and the performance of these enhanced by light and heat.

The paper has recently been published in the Journal Nature Materials. The bottom up technique used by the Xu and her team will be an answer to the bottleneck and will lead to the design of new spatial arrays that can find their applications in many areas.

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