A major improvement has been achieved in the method by which Northwestern University researchers create unconventional open-framework superlattices consisting of hollow metal nanoparticles.
The scientists discovered they could create open-channel superlattices with holes ranging from 10 to 1,000 nanometers in size - sizes that had previously been impossible to reach - by using metallic nanoframes and altering them with appropriate DNA sequences. Researchers will be able to employ these colloidal crystals for molecule absorption and storage, separations, chemical sensing, catalysis, and numerous optical applications thanks to their newly discovered control over porosity.
The current work highlights the generalizability of new design principles to produce novel materials by identifying 12 distinct porous nanoparticle superlattices with control over symmetry, geometry, and pore connectivity. The article was released in the journal Nature on October 26.
Crystals Open New Doors to Biomolecular Absorption
Chad A. Mirkin, the head of the International Institute for Nanotechnology and the George B. Rathmann Professor of Chemistry at Northwestern University, said the new findings would have significant implications for nanotechnology and beyond.
"We had to rethink what we knew about DNA bonding with colloidal particles," said Mirkin (per Phys.org). The conventional guidelines for crystal engineering proved inadequate for these new varieties of hollow nanocrystals.
The researchers may access a variety of crystalline structures through nanoparticle assembly driven by "edge-bonding" that is not possible through standard "face-bonding," which is how the researchers often conceive about structure development in this sector. These novel architectures provide fresh prospects in both science and technology.
