Controlling the Production of Custom Nanoparticles

Scientists working with nanoparticles tout them as the way of the future in a large number of research fields, ranging from computing and chemistry to electronics and medicine. However, in order for the tiny structures to be of any good, they need to fulfill certain demands. Creating them after strict specifications has proven to be a difficult obstacle to overcome, but experts at the North Carolina State University (NCSU) have recently managed to consistently create hollow, solid and amorphous nanoparticles of nickel phosphide.

Because their methods of production yielded the same results at all times, they are considering the possibility of creating a “how-to” guide on producing such custom nanoparticles, so that other research groups working on the nanoscale could progress in their work as well. Such a guide, the scientists believe, could bring about a wave of innovation, from research initiatives that are now at a stand-still because the correct type of nanoparticles cannot be produced. Nickel phosphide, for instance, can be used as a catalyst for removing sulfur from fuel, or for the development of new types of solar cells.

“It's been known that these structures could be made, 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,” NCSU Assistant Professor of Material Science Engineering Dr. Joe Tracy explains. He is also the co-author of a new paper detailing the finds, published in the latest online issue of the scientific journal Chemistry of Materials. The work was funded by the NCSU and the US National Science Foundation (NSF).

“Nanoparticles with desired structures can be made more consistently, making it easier for researchers to determine their electronic, optical and catalytic properties,” Tracy adds. A how-to guide “could provide important insights for further studies to control the structures of many other kinds of nanoparticles, with a wide array of potential applications,” the expert adds. Among the most promising types of nanoparticles, he included metal oxide, sulfide, selenide and phosphide nanoparticles.

According to the team, nanoparticles that were both hollow and amorphous at the same time could not be created. Rather, only one of three could be made at a time. But this doesn't mean that obtaining them was impossible, they added. Other groups could potentially create such materials.