Note to users. If you're seeing this message, it means that your browser cannot find this page's style/presentation instructions -- or possibly that you are using a browser that does not support current Web standards. Find out more about why this message is appearing, and what you can do to make your experience of our site the best it can be.

Site Tools

  • AAAS
  • Subscribe
  • Feedback

Site Search

Search Advanced

Published Online July 1, 2004
Science DOI: 10.1126/science.1098454

Reports

Submitted on March 29, 2004
Accepted on June 22, 2004

Nanoparticles: Strained and Stiff

Benjamin Gilbert 1, Feng Huang 1, Hengzhong Zhang 1, Glenn A. Waychunas 2, Jillian F. Banfield 3*

1 Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, University of California at Berkeley, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA.
2 Earth Sciences Division, Lawrence Berkeley National Lab, One Cyclotron Road, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA.
3 Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, University of California at Berkeley, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA; Earth Sciences Division, Lawrence Berkeley National Lab, One Cyclotron Road, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA.

* To whom correspondence should be addressed.
Jillian F. Banfield , E-mail: jill{at}eps.berkeley.edu

Nanoparticles may contain unusual forms of structural disorder that can significantly modify materials properties and thus cannot solely be considered as small pieces of bulk material. We have developed a method to quantify intermediate-range order in 3.4-nanometer zinc sulfide nanoparticles, and show that structural coherence is lost over distances beyond 2 nanometers. The zinc-sulfur Einstein vibration frequency in the nanoparticles is substantially higher than that in the bulk zinc sulfide, implying structural stiffening. This cannot be explained by the observed 1% radial compression and must be primarily due to inhomogeneous internal strain caused by competing relaxations from an irregular surface. The methods developed here are generally applicable to the characterization of nanoscale solids, many of which may exhibit complex disorder and strain.


THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN CITED BY OTHER ARTICLES:
Structure, Chemistry, and Properties of Mineral Nanoparticles.
G. A. Waychunas and H. Zhang (2008)
Elements 4, 381-387
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Nanominerals, Mineral Nanoparticles, and Earth Systems.
M. F. Hochella Jr., S. K. Lower, P. A. Maurice, R. L. Penn, N. Sahai, D. L. Sparks, and B. S. Twining (2008)
Science 319, 1631-1635
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
The Structure of Ferrihydrite, a Nanocrystalline Material.
F. M. Michel, L. Ehm, S. M. Antao, P. L. Lee, P. J. Chupas, G. Liu, D. R. Strongin, M. A. A. Schoonen, B. L. Phillips, and J. B. Parise (2007)
Science 316, 1726-1729
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
The Problem with Determining Atomic Structure at the Nanoscale.
S. J. L. Billinge and I. Levin (2007)
Science 316, 561-565
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Thermal behavior of metal nanoparticles in geologic materials.
M. Reich, S. Utsunomiya, S. E. Kesler, L. Wang, R. C. Ewing, and U. Becker (2006)
Geology 34, 1033-1036
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Molecular-Scale Processes Involving Nanoparticulate Minerals in Biogeochemical Systems.
B. Gilbert and J. F. Banfield (2005)
Reviews in Mineralogy and Geochemistry 59, 109-155
   Full Text »    PDF »


To Advertise     Find Products

Science. ISSN 0036-8075 (print), 1095-9203 (online)