Review abstract
Nature Materials 7, 527 - 538 (2008)
doi:10.1038/nmat2206
Subject Categories: Glasses | Colloids
The role of interparticle and external forces in nanoparticle assembly
Younjin Min1, Mustafa Akbulut2, Kai Kristiansen1, Yuval Golan3 & Jacob Israelachvili1
Abstract
The past 20 years have witnessed simultaneous multidisciplinary explosions in experimental techniques for synthesizing new materials, measuring and manipulating nanoscale structures, understanding biological processes at the nanoscale, and carrying out large-scale computations of many-atom and complex macromolecular systems. These advances have led to the new disciplines of nanoscience and nanoengineering. For reasons that are discussed here, most nanoparticles do not 'self-assemble' into their thermodynamically lowest energy state, and require an input of energy or external forces to 'direct' them into particular structures or assemblies. We discuss why and how a combination of self- and directed-assembly processes, involving interparticle and externally applied forces, can be applied to produce desired nanostructured materials.
- Department of Chemical Engineering, University of California Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, California 93106, USA
- Department of Chemical Engineering, Princeton University, A-306 Engineering Quadrangle, Princeton, New Jersey 08544-5263, USA
- Department of Materials Engineering, and Ilse Katz Institute of Nanotechnology, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Beer-Sheva 84105, Israel
Correspondence to: Jacob Israelachvili1 e-mail: jacob@engineering.ucsb.edu
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