Aluminum “Octopods” – Shape Matters for Light-Activated NanocatalystsStudy: Pointe
Aluminum “Octopods” – Shape Matters for Light-Activated NanocatalystsStudy: Pointed tips on aluminum ‘octopods’ increase catalytic reactivity.Points matter when designing nanoparticles that drive important chemical reactions using the power of light.Researchers at Rice University’s Laboratory for Nanophotonics (LANP) have long known that a nanoparticle’s shape affects how it interacts with light, and their latest study shows how shape affects a particle’s ability to use light to catalyze important chemical reactions.In a comparative study, LANP graduate students Lin Yuan and Minhan Lou and their colleagues studied aluminum nanoparticles with identical optical properties but different shapes. The most rounded had 14 sides and 24 blunt points. Another was cube-shaped, with six sides and eight 90-degree corners. The third, which the team dubbed “octopod,” also had six sides, but each of its eight corners ended in a pointed tip.Read more. -- source link
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