nano 2007-12-23 08:06
ACS Nano Picks 05： Nanoparticles Unveiled
[img]http://img301.imageshack.us/img301/902/francesco101be5cht9.png[/img]
By [u]Prof. Francesco Stellacci[/u]
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
[b]Article Title:[/b] [url=http://www.acsnanotation.org/tabid/98/Default.aspx?ReviewId=48]Structure of a Thiol Monolayer–Protected Gold Nanoparticle at 1.1 Å Resolution[/url]
[b]Article Citation:[/b] Science (2007) 318:340
[b]Article Review:[/b]
Full understanding the structure of nanoparticles is the main obstacle for the development of accurate structure-property relationships. Electron microscopy techniques have revealed a lot about the core of these materials, while scanning probe techniques are becoming important for revealing the structure of the organic molecules that surround the inorganic core. To the best of my knowledge nobody had ever been able to unveil the structure of a nanoparticle as a whole. In the latest issue of Science Kornberg and co-workers have been able to solve the diffraction pattern coming from a single large supracrystal of monodisperse monolayer-protected nanoparticles. The results are amazing; [color=red]they find a complexity in the structure that goes from different types of gold atom spacing to a variety of molecular configurations. Remarkably they observe chirality in the molecular assembly. The paper is so rich in findings that will certainly be a seminal departing point for further study of nanoparticle properties.[/color]