Research Team Led by Professor Sangheon Lee Discovers the Secret of Atoms Hidden in Nanosynthesis
- 작성처
- Date2021.08.24
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Research Team Led by Professor Sangheon Lee Discovers the Secret of Atoms Hidden in Nanosynthesis
A team of researchers led by Professor Sangheon Lee (Department of Chemical Engineering and Materials Science) has identified the mechanism through which surface ligands control the growth of nanomaterials by utilizing quantum mechanical modeling and atom probe tomography.
The outcome of this research was published in Nature Communications on July 14 (Wed), 2021, titled “Three-dimensional Atomic Mapping of Ligands on Palladium Nanoparticles by Atom Probe Tomography.” The research was jointly conducted in collaboration with Professor Pyuck-Pa Choi (Department of Materials Science and Engineering at KAIST), and Ms. Jiwon Yu, who is currently a Ph.D. student at The University of Texas at Austin after receiving B.S. and M.S. from Ewha Womans University, made a significant contribution as a co-author.
Ligands are long-chain organic molecules involved in the process of nanoparticle synthesis. It has been well known that ligands are anchored on the surface of nanoparticles, like spines of chestnuts and sea urchins, and play a key role in controlling the shape and various properties of nanoparticles. Therefore, ligand-based synthesis techniques have already been applied to mass production of some commercialized products, such as quantum dot displays. However, the scientific understanding of the mechanism by which ligands control the nanoparticle growth remained unknown due to the difficulty in direct characterization of the interaction between ligands and nanoparticles.
For the first time in the world, the Ewha-KAIST joint research team succeeded in imaging the three-dimensional distribution of ligands over the surface of palladium nanoparticles using an atomic tomographic microscope. Then, the research team performed state-of-the-art quantum mechanical calculations and demonstrated that a specific combination of ligands leads to the formation of a specific shape of nanoparticles by selectively stabilizing specific facets of palladium nanoparticles.
The physical insights and relevant technologies obtained through this experiment-theory joint research are expected to be directly applied to the design and manufacture of nanoparticles with superior properties.
“The primary goal of my research is to understand the underlying mechanisms involved in the formation and behavior of new materials based on atomic-level understanding,” said Professor Lee. “This joint research is academically very important, as the presented results encompass all the previously reported conflicting results.” Professor Lee also acknowledged, “I am very fortunate to be able to make a world-class achievement by working with brilliant students and by taking full advantage of the excellent research infrastructure at Ewha Womans University.”