Nanoparticles in Layered Media

纳米粒子具有重要的技术意义，但却很难操纵和控制。在两个方面取得了良好的进展：首先是对颗粒本身大小和形状的控制。第二个是最近的一项证明，即粒子可以通过连接晶体学上等效的面而融合在一起。这意味着纳米级的积木可以像“乐高”积木一样组合起来。不幸的是，排列半导体纳米颗粒（将乐高积木组合在一起）的进展更为有限。这是制造纳米级电子设备的关键一步。我的研究将解决这个问题。我的方法是通过将粒子分散在有序相的溶剂中来控制它们。我将特别利用层状相将粒子限制在二维区域。纳米粒子有可能通过对宿主溶剂的作用而相互作用。这可能导致粒子的聚集受到控制。我的方法的一个主要优点是，成功的程序不依赖于纳米颗粒的特定化学性质。因此，对一系列不同种类的粒子进行重复技术应该是可能的。后来的发展将是利用非平衡现象来协助粒子的空间组织。分层相本身就是物质的新状态。因此，我们研究它们与分散的纳米颗粒的关系具有超越纳米技术的基础意义。我们期望创造新的部分有序相和阻滞态，这将对软复合材料和含包体膜的理论提出挑战。

Nanoparticles are of great technological importance but are very difficult to manipulate and control. Good progress has been made in two areas: the first is the control of size and shape of the particles themselves. The second is a recent demonstration that the particles can be fused together by joining crystallographically equivalent facets. This implies that nanoscale building blocks can be combined like 'lego' bricks. Unfortunately progress with arranging semiconductor nanoparticles (bringing the lego bricks together) is more limited. This is an essential step to creating nanoscale electronic devices. My research will address this problem. My approach will be to manipulate the particles by dispersing them in a solvent that has ordered phases. I will specifically make use of layered phases to confine particles in two-dimensional regions. It is possible that the nanoparticles will then interact with each other via their effect on the host solvent. This could lead to the controlled aggregation of particles. A major strength of my approach is that the successful procedures are not dependent on the particular chemistry of the nanoparticle. Hence it should be possible to repeat techniques with a range of different sorts of particle. A later development will be to use non-equilibrium phenomena to assist with spatial organisation of the particles. Layered phases are novel states of matter in their own right. Consequently our research on their relationship with dispersed nanoparticles is of fundamental significance beyond nanotechnology. We anticipate creating new partially ordered phases and arrested states that will provide a challenge to theories of soft composites and membranes with inclusions.