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Compartmentalization of Gold Nanocrystals in Polymer Microparticles using Electrohydrodynamic Co‐Jetting
Author(s) -
Lim Dong Woo,
Hwang Sangyeul,
Uzun Oktay,
Stellacci Francesco,
Lahann Joerg
Publication year - 2010
Publication title -
macromolecular rapid communications
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.348
H-Index - 154
eISSN - 1521-3927
pISSN - 1022-1336
DOI - 10.1002/marc.200900597
Subject(s) - materials science , electrohydrodynamics , polymer , nanoparticle , particle (ecology) , nanotechnology , nanocrystal , anisotropy , particle size , nanoscopic scale , colloidal gold , chemical engineering , composite material , electrode , chemistry , optics , oceanography , physics , engineering , geology
Polymer particles with micro‐ and nanoscale anisotropy have received increasing interest for their ability to simultaneously present different physical‐ and chemical properties. In this communication, we demonstrate that gold nanocrystals (NCs) can be selectively incorporated into one compartment of anisotropic polymer particles. Stable bicompartmental particles were prepared via electrohydrodynamic co‐jetting of aqueous nanoparticle suspensions followed by thermal cross‐linking. Bicompartmental particle populations with different NC densities were obtained by varying the NC concentration in the jetting suspension. While NC‐loaded polymer particles showed different optical properties depending on the NC density, they still maintained discrete interfaces between two compartments. Moreover, the fraction of the bicompartmental particles was higher than 98% based on flow cytometry. This study delineates a new approach for preparation of inorganic/organic composite particles with precisely engineered, anisotropic nanoparticle distributions and may contribute to further developments in emerging scientific areas, such as smart materials or particle‐based diagnostics.