INOR 373 |
| The mesoscopic length scale can be defined as the regime in which the characteristic length of a physical or chemical effect is matched by a physical length in the material. Familiar examples include changes in the optical spectra of nanoscale semiconductor and metal nanocrystals, the transition from paramagnetic to ferrimagnetic behavior in metal oxide nanoparticles, and Bragg scattering of light in periodic arrays of colloidal particles. The mesoscopic length scale is “where the action is” in terms of realizing new emergent properties and new functions from “old” materials that we understand well as bulk solids. Many research groups are now studying mesoscale phenomena in inorganic materials. Our particular focus has been to develop techniques whereby nanoscale building blocks (metals and ligands, polyelectrolytes, crystalline metal oxide sheets, colloidal polymer and silica spheres, and template-grown nanowires) can be made and assembled on the relevant length scales, from nanometers to microns. This talk will describe some of our recent results on the assembly of mesoscopic materials, focusing particularly on the special properties that we find with these “old” materials in “new” forms. |
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ACS Awards to Inorganic Chemists
8:10 AM-12:50 PM, Monday, April 7, 2008 Morial Convention Center -- La Louisiane, Blrm. C, Oral
Division of Inorganic Chemistry |