Spontaneous formation of hollow nanoparticles at room temperature: our recent work published in Nanoscale

Editor — Thu, 28 Feb 2013 16:09:46 +0000

In a paper recently published in Nanoscale, our group continues the exploration of the Kirkendall effect a room temperature: this time we report on the oxidation of cobalt nanoparticles at the air/water interface. We find that this results in the formation of hollow cobalt oxide shells, followed by decomposition of the shells into much smaller nanoparticles.

The work, carried out together with collaborators at ICMAB led by Prof. Jordi Arbiol, indicates that the presence of water modifies the reactivity on the nanoparticle surface favoring the formation of the hollow structure. The paper also presents detailed characterization, including the magnetic properties of some of the products. Overall, the work contributes to the understanding and control of the chemistry of hollow nanoparticles – a topic of growing interest due to their potential applications.

Varón, M., Ojea-Jimenez, I., Arbiol, J., Balcells, L., Martínez, B., & Puntes, V. F. Spontaneous formation of hollow cobalt oxide nanoparticles by the Kirkendall effect at room temperature at the water–air interface. Nanoscale, 5(6), 2429–2436 (2013).

http://pubs.rsc.org/en/content/articlelanding/2013/nr/c2nr32657d

Our work on hollow complex nanostructures has been published in Science!

Editor — Tue, 20 Dec 2011 19:57:13 +0000

One of the main works from Dr. Edgar Gonzalez’s doctorate in our group was the synthesis of highly complex metallic hollow nanostructures. He obtained gold and silver nanocages and nanoboxes (multi-walled and/or multi-chambered polyhedra and wires). The degree of structural complexity was not the only achievement here, but also the fact that the synthetic procedure can be performed at room temperature (green chemistry), unlike previous attempts where high temperatures were required.

This work, carried out with the collaboration of Prof. Jordi Arbiol from the Institute of Materials Science of Barcelona (ICMAB), has now been published in Science, “Carving at the Nanoscale: Sequential Galvanic Exchange and Kirkendall Growth at Room Temperature”. Its value also resides in the fact that the concept relies in “carving” the hollow structure out of a solid one (controlled corrosion). And this is fundamentally different from the general trend of thinking that complex precious nanostructures should be built assembling objects atom-by-atom or molecule-by-molecule. This conceptual move is also well framed in the Perspective article by W. Parak that introduces our paper in the Science issue: “Complex Colloidal Assembly”. It is also well explained in simpler terms in the BBC Technology news item “Nanoparticle hollowing method promises medical advances”.

Gonzalez, E., Arbiol, J., & Puntes, V. F. (2011). Carving at the Nanoscale: Sequential Galvanic Exchange and Kirkendall Growth at Room Temperature. Science, 334(6061), 1377–1380.

http://www.sciencemag.org/content/334/6061/1377

Selected media coverage and related:

Wolfgang J. Parak (2011). Complex Colloidal Assembly. Science 334(6061), 1359-1360.

http://www.sciencemag.org/content/334/6061/1359

BBC Online: Nanoparticle hollowing method promises medical advances, by Leo Kelion. December 8, 2011.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-16101495

PhysicsWorld.com: Corrosion carves out 3D nanostructures, by Belle Dumé. December 12, 2012.

http://physicsworld.com/cws/article/news/2011/dec/12/corrosion-carves-out-3d-nanostructures

RSC Chemistry World: Molecular suitcases created by corrosion, by Simon Hadlington. December 8, 2012.

http://www.rsc.org/chemistryworld/News/2011/December/08121105.asp

El Mundo Newspaper: ‘Matriuskas’ en las estructuras internas de las nanopartículas. December 8, 2011.

http://www.elmundo.es/elmundo/2011/12/07/nanotecnologia/1323285656.html

ScienceDaily: Carving at the Nanoscale. December 10, 2011

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/12/111208142013.htm

MaterialsToday.com: Carving goes nanoscale. December 12, 2011.

http://www.materialstoday.com/view/22582/carving-goes-nanoscale/

Phys.org: Carving at the nanoscale. December 8, 2011.

http://phys.org/news/2011-12-nanoscale.html

Nanowiki.info: Why hollow?… No, why solid!, by Victor Puntes. December 19, 2011.

http://www.nanowiki.info/#[[Why%20hollow%3F…%20No%2C%20why%20solid!]]

Kirkendall effect – Inorganic Nanoparticles Group

Spontaneous formation of hollow nanoparticles at room temperature: our recent work published in Nanoscale

Our work on hollow complex nanostructures has been published in Science!