Welcome to the world of nanocrystals. What
are nanocrystals I hear you say - well simply put they are nanomaterials composed
of atoms in a single/poly-crystalline arrangement.
A research paper published by JACS called ’Decoding the Superlatticeand Interface Structure of Truncate PbS Nanocrystal-Assembled Supercrystal andAssociated Interaction Forces’ published this week (paywalled) looks at the
structure of individual nanocrystals and
larger ‘supercrystals’ grown in the lab with electron microscopy. Given that
characterisation of these types of structures are more complex than spheres and
their wide range of applications (e.g. medicine and electronic) it is a good
step forward for those involved with NM design and crystal formation.
Discovered a nice new website called The
Future of Things (TFOT). There are ‘dedicated to bringing unique and
fun content on science, technology, and medicine to the general public’. This article on the recently published paper investigating how silicon dioxide
nanoparticles increase atherogenicity gives a very good overview not
only on the paper itself but also on nanomaterials and atherosclerosis
Phototherapy+nanoparticles= improved identification
and surgical removal of malignant tumours. Read all about the current work from
the Ohio State University here.