Flexible connectors enable new designer materials built from nanoparticles
Creating better-performing materials comes down to having more control over their structure at the smallest possible scale. One particularly effective way to accomplish that is using nanoparticles, which have highly customizable shapes and sizes and have already shown promise in applications across energy, medicine and electronics.
A new method for creating materials using nanoparticles has been developed by researchers from MIT. The technique involves using super-flexible connector molecules that can regulate the packing of nanoparticle networks by deforming based on their surrounding environment. This approach allows for greater control over the structure of the materials at the smallest scale, enabling the creation of new types of nanoparticle-based materials for various applications.
The lead researcher, Rob Macfarlane, explains that this is a significant departure from previous methods, which required rigid connector ligands and limited the functionality of the materials. The flexible ligands allow the particles to spontaneously align and form bonds, leading to new and previously unseen crystal structures. The researchers believe this new approach could pave the way for more customizable materials with unique properties for various industries, such as photonics, chemical catalysis, medicine, and agriculture.
Written by urgent.news from MIT News Research's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
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