Transformable masks for colloidal nanosynthesis

Transformable masks for colloidal nanosynthesis

Synthetic skills are the prerequisite and foundation for the modern chemical and pharmaceutical industry. The same is true for nanotechnology, whose development has been hindered by the sluggish advance of its synthetic toolbox, i.e., the emerging field of nanosynthesis. Unlike organic chemistry, where the variety of functional groups provides numerous handles for designing chemical selectivity...

Chemical modification of colloidal masks for nanolithography.

A method is presented to tune the holes in colloidal masks used for nanolithography. Using a simple wet-chemical method, a thin layer of silica is grown on masks of silica particles. The size of the holes is controlled by the amount of tetraethoxysilane (TEOS) added. More accurate tuning of the hole size is possible in the presence of a calibrated seed dispersion of silica colloids. We demonstr...

Particle arrays with patterned pores by nanomachining with colloidal masks.

In summary, we have developed a new strategy for the fabrication of arrayed colloidal particles well-ordered nanometric holes of three or four fold symmetry by anisotropic reactive ion (plasma) etching of self-organized layers of colloidal spheres. We demonstrated that a mesoporous silica matrix with regular open windows could be used as a lithographic mask and the resulting arrangement of pore...

Toward greener nanosynthesis.

Reconsidering Explanation: Lessons from Nanosynthesis

Nanosynthesis forces a reevaluation of received views on scientific explanation. I discuss the synthesis of anisotropic metal nanoparticles, a typical nanosynthesis research program, in order to demonstrate the failure of standard philosophical accounts of explanation to capture the dynamics of information exchange in synthetic sciences. I argue that using the language of effective heuristics, ...