Nonadditivity of nanoparticle interactions

Understanding interactions between inorganic nanoparticles (NPs) is central to comprehension of self-organization processes and a wide spectrum of physical, chemical, and biological phenomena. However, quantitative description of the interparticle forces is complicated by many obstacles that are not present, or not as severe, for microsize particles (μPs). Here we analyze the sources of these difficulties and chart a course for future research. Such difficulties can be traced to the increased importance of discreteness and fluctuations around NPs (relative to μPs) and to multiscale collective effects. Although these problems can be partially overcome by modifying classical theories for colloidal interactions,…

• UD
  U.S. Department of Defense

  Award: W911NF-10-1-0518
• DO
  Division of Materials Research

  Awards: 1120923, 1411014