30 September 2009

Engineers control structure of nanoparticles

Nanoparticles have great potential for future applications in electronics, medicine, and other areas.

The properties of nanoparticles depend on their size and structure. Now researchers from North Carolina State University have learned how to consistently create hollow, solid, and amorphous (lacking definite form, shapeless) nanoparticles of nickel phosphide.

Potential uses lie in the development of solar cells and as catalysts for removing sulfur from fuel.

Their work can now serve as a “how-to” guide for other researchers to controllably create hollow, solid, and amorphous nanoparticles—in order to determine what special properties they may have.

The study provides a step-by-step analysis of how to create solid or hollow nanoparticles that are all made of the same material. “It’s been known that these structures could be made,” said Dr. Joe Tracy, an assistant professor of material science engineering at NC State and co-author of the paper, “but this research provides us with a comprehensive understanding of nanostructural control during nanoparticle formation, showing how to consistently obtain different structures in the lab.”

NC State and the National Science Foundation funded the research, and Chemistry of Materials published it online.

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