A new way forward for nanocomposite nanostructures
Scientists at the Naval Research Laboratory (NRL) and the University of Illinois - Urbana Champaign recently reported a new technique for directly writing composites of nanoparticles and polymers. Recent years have seen significant advances in the properties achieved by both these materials, and so researchers have begun to blend these materials into nanocomposites that access the properties of both materials. Forming these nanocomposites into structures has been tricky since each nanocomposite would require a particular set of solvents or a particular surface coating. To solve this problem, the NRL and UIUC team developed a generic means for depositing many nanocomposites on multiple surfaces with nanoscale precision. Metal nanoparticles that were conducting, tiny magnetic nanoparticles, and nanoparticles that glowed, were all deposited using this one technique...