Manfred Bochmann, Andrew Cammidge, Yimin Chao and Greg Wildgoose have received 3 years funding from the Leverhulme Trust to support a multi-disciplinary project aimed at constructing new materials from nanoparticle building blocks. Manfred Bochmann was also awarded a Leverhulme Research Fellowship.

Unlike molecular chemistry, where there is an arsenal of methods to precisely place a given atom or group of atoms into a pre-determined position in a molecule, no such methods exist for the precise organisation of particles at the nano-scale. This project seeks to develop the methodology necessary for the organising specific nanocrystal assemblies into tailored 1D, 2D and 3D structures. It is expected that this will enable the bottom-up construction of new materials with novel intrinsic properties. Nanometer-sized solid particles possess unique physical and electronic properties, often referred to as “quantum confinement effects”, that differ substantially from both molecular aggregates and bulk materials. Nanocrystals (NCs) have versatile applications, e.g. light emitting diodes, bio-imaging of living cells, as drug-delivery systems, high-sensitivity sensors, catalysts, in non-linear optics and nano-electronics. In this project, the team will employ nano-sized macrocyclic ligands to selectively tailor the surface of nanoparticles, and will use the selective construction of covalent bonds to link such structures together. The morphology and physical properties of such assemblies will be explored by electron microscopy, photoluminescence, NMR and XPS spectroscopy.