Researchers were able to develop a new amalgamation process that results in two metals producing nanocrystals, opening a new avenue for creating intermetallic nanocrystals for a variety of specialized applications.
The new process was devised by a team from ETH Zurich, having a liquid metal penetrate the solid one during the amalgamation procedure in an impressively intuitive technique. Researchers report their findings in the Science Advances article "Size- and Composition-Controlled Intermetallic Nanocrystals via Amalgamation Seeded Growth."
Nanocrystals are small spheres, usually in the nanometer range, that are made up of atoms arranged in a regular crystalline arrangement. Their unique properties give them a host of benefits as materials for specialized uses. For example, cadmium and selenium nanocrystals have been extensively studied for their potential use, from LED displays to specialized equipment in medical imaging, as noted in a February 2021 study appearing in Nature Communications, examining their inherent structural defects.
Also, intermetallic nanocrystals, which are materials created from two different metals arranged in a crystalline lattice, have become materials of interest due to their applications in catalysis, data storage, electronics, and biomedicine. With the number of metals and metallic materials known to humankind, there are theoretically thousands of possible combinations that could lead to nanocrystals. However, only a few of them have been made in reality. This prompted the researchers from the Institute for Electronics at ETH Zurich.
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