MIT researchers broke a 20-year rule by using flexible polymers to link nanoparticles. This new method gives scientists better control when building crystal structures. Rob Macfarlane said, "This is a new approach in nanoparticle assembly that hasn't been investigated before." This discovery could help create advanced materials for medicine.
MIT researchers have just changed the game in materials science by building crystal structures in a way that goes against a rule scientists have followed for 20 years.
Instead of using stiff connectors, they used flexible polymers to link nanoparticles, giving them much more control.
This could open up new possibilities for creating advanced materials used in things like photonics and medicine.
By tweaking the size of gold nanoparticles and the flexibility of their connectors, the team managed to create unique, customizable lattices.
This approach could make it easier to design high-performance materials at scale.
As MIT's Rob Macfarlane put it, "This is a new approach in nanoparticle assembly that hasn't been investigated before. It's exciting to have a new tool that is so counterintuitive."