Home > Press > Nanoscale engineering transforms particles into 'LEGO-like' building blocks
 |
| Tiny particles transformed into “LEGO- like” modular building blocks. |
Abstract:
Led by the University of Melbourne and published today in Nature Nanotechnology, the work holds promise for micro and nano scale applications including drug delivery, chemical sensing and energy storage.
Nanoscale engineering transforms particles into 'LEGO-like' building blocks
Melbourne, Australia | Posted on October 12th, 2016Frank Caruso, Professor and ARC Australian Laureate Fellow, Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering said that the team nanoengineered building blocks to tailor the development of advanced materials.
"Nano-objects are difficult to manipulate, as they're too tiny to see directly by eye, far too small to hold, and often have incompatible surfaces for assembling into ordered structures," he said.
"Assembling LEGO bricks into complex shapes is relatively easy, as LEGO studs ensure the blocks stick together wherever you want.
"So we used a similar strategy as a basis for assembling nano-objects into complex architectures by first coating them with a universally adhesive material (a polyphenol) so that they resemble the studs on LEGO bricks.
"This allows for a range of nano-objects to stick together around a template, where the template determines the final shape of the assembled structure," Professor Caruso said.
Different materials can be assembled using this approach. This simple and modular approach has been demonstrated for 15 representative materials to form different sizes, shapes, compositions and functionalities.
Compositions include polymeric particles, metal oxide particles and wires, noble metal nanoparticles, coordination polymer nanowires, nanosheets and nanocubes, and biologicals.
The building blocks can be used to construct complex 3D superstructures, including core-satellite, hollow, hierarchically organised supraparticles, and macroscopic hybrid materials.
"Many previous methods have been limited by particle-specific assembly," Professor Caruso said.
"However, this new polyphenol-based particle approach can be adapted to different functions and allows different building blocks to be assembled into super-structures," he said.
The "studs" in the LEGO brick-like structures, known as C/G studs from the polyphenols, provide a superstructuring process for assembling and inter-locking the building blocks using multiple anchor points.
The "C/G studs" on the building block nanoparticles can further interact with a secondary substrate and/or coordinate with metal ions, interlocking the structures.
This provides a platform for the rapid generation of superstructured assemblies with enhanced chemical diversity and structural flexibility across a wide range of length scales, from nanometres to centimetres.
####
For more information, please click here
Contacts:
Anne Rahilly
61-390-355-380
Copyright © University of Melbourne
If you have a comment, please Contact us.Issuers of news releases, not 7th Wave, Inc. or Nanotechnology Now, are solely responsible for the accuracy of the content.
Bookmark:
| Related News Press |
News and information
Sensors innovations for smart lithium-based batteries: advancements, opportunities, and potential challenges August 8th, 2025
Deciphering local microstrain-induced optimization of asymmetric Fe single atomic sites for efficient oxygen reduction August 8th, 2025
Lab to industry: InSe wafer-scale breakthrough for future electronics August 8th, 2025
Chemistry
Cambridge chemists discover simple way to build bigger molecules – one carbon at a time June 6th, 2025
Single-atom catalysts change spin state when boosted by a magnetic field June 4th, 2025
Quantum interference in molecule-surface collisions February 28th, 2025
Chainmail-like material could be the future of armor: First 2D mechanically interlocked polymer exhibits exceptional flexibility and strength January 17th, 2025
Possible Futures
ICFO researchers overcome long-standing bottleneck in single photon detection with twisted 2D materials August 8th, 2025
New molecular technology targets tumors and simultaneously silences two ‘undruggable’ cancer genes August 8th, 2025
Simple algorithm paired with standard imaging tool could predict failure in lithium metal batteries August 8th, 2025
First real-time observation of two-dimensional melting process: Researchers at Mainz University unveil new insights into magnetic vortex structures August 8th, 2025
Sensors
Sensors innovations for smart lithium-based batteries: advancements, opportunities, and potential challenges August 8th, 2025
Quantum engineers ‘squeeze’ laser frequency combs to make more sensitive gas sensors January 17th, 2025
Discoveries
Deciphering local microstrain-induced optimization of asymmetric Fe single atomic sites for efficient oxygen reduction August 8th, 2025
ICFO researchers overcome long-standing bottleneck in single photon detection with twisted 2D materials August 8th, 2025
New molecular technology targets tumors and simultaneously silences two ‘undruggable’ cancer genes August 8th, 2025
Simple algorithm paired with standard imaging tool could predict failure in lithium metal batteries August 8th, 2025
Announcements
Sensors innovations for smart lithium-based batteries: advancements, opportunities, and potential challenges August 8th, 2025
Deciphering local microstrain-induced optimization of asymmetric Fe single atomic sites for efficient oxygen reduction August 8th, 2025
Japan launches fully domestically produced quantum computer: Expo visitors to experience quantum computing firsthand August 8th, 2025
ICFO researchers overcome long-standing bottleneck in single photon detection with twisted 2D materials August 8th, 2025
Interviews/Book Reviews/Essays/Reports/Podcasts/Journals/White papers/Posters
New molecular technology targets tumors and simultaneously silences two ‘undruggable’ cancer genes August 8th, 2025
Simple algorithm paired with standard imaging tool could predict failure in lithium metal batteries August 8th, 2025
First real-time observation of two-dimensional melting process: Researchers at Mainz University unveil new insights into magnetic vortex structures August 8th, 2025
Lab to industry: InSe wafer-scale breakthrough for future electronics August 8th, 2025
Energy
Sensors innovations for smart lithium-based batteries: advancements, opportunities, and potential challenges August 8th, 2025
Simple algorithm paired with standard imaging tool could predict failure in lithium metal batteries August 8th, 2025
KAIST researchers introduce new and improved, next-generation perovskite solar cell November 8th, 2024
Battery Technology/Capacitors/Generators/Piezoelectrics/Thermoelectrics/Energy storage
Sensors innovations for smart lithium-based batteries: advancements, opportunities, and potential challenges August 8th, 2025
Deciphering local microstrain-induced optimization of asymmetric Fe single atomic sites for efficient oxygen reduction August 8th, 2025
Simple algorithm paired with standard imaging tool could predict failure in lithium metal batteries August 8th, 2025
Enhancing power factor of p- and n-type single-walled carbon nanotubes April 25th, 2025
 |
||
 |
||
| The latest news from around the world, FREE | ||
 |
||
|
|
||
| Premium Products | ||
 |
||
|
Only the news you want to read!
Learn More |
||
 |
||
|
Full-service, expert consulting
Learn More |
||
|
|
||