The new class of organic nanoparticles shows promise for various applications

Nanoparticles have a wide range of applications, from drug delivery to electronics to air purification. Their small size and tunable properties make them particularly valuable for technological advances and scientific research. When polymers made from nanoparticles are stitched together, the functionality of the materials can be improved.

Organic nanoparticles (oNPs) are chemically more versatile than their inorganic counterparts, allowing for functionalization and customization to suit specific biomedical and technological applications, however, existing materials were limited in terms of their mechanical properties and chemical suitability .

A recent study published by Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) examines the impact of hyperbranching and chemical cross-linking of oNP, a process by which both mechanisms combined achieve a dense network of connections.

Led by Carnegie Mellon faculty Krzysztof Matyjaszewski of the Department of Chemistry and Michael Bockstaller of the Department of Materials Science and Engineering, the research results demonstrate the ability to tune both functional attributes and elastic properties, making the new approach suitable “from bottom-up”. for creating functional materials for a wide range of applications. The work, which was supported by the Office of Energy’s Department of Basic Energy Sciences and conducted in collaboration with researchers at the University of Houston and the Max Planck Institute for Polymer Research in Germany, advances fundamental understanding of the parameters that control the properties of oNP and chemical methods that enable their synthesis.

“By combining these processes, we have been able to demonstrate the ability of organic nanoparticles to exhibit inorganic-type stiffness,” said Bockstaller.

This advanced level of control over the structure and properties of onPs was made possible by a new and precise method for the synthesis of functional nanoparticles using atom transfer radical polymerization (ATRP) that was developed by chemistry doctoral student Rongguan Yin, first author of the study.

“Organic nanoparticles precisely designed and prepared by ATRP are, in fact, new giant single macromolecules of molar mass reaching values ​​of 100 million Daltons,” said Matyjaszewski.

An important feature of the new oNP system is its macroinitiator characteristics that enable versatile graft modification. The resulting brush-bonded ONPs unlock innovative applications in a variety of nanomaterial technologies through direct assembly or integration.

“Incorporating the functionalities described in this work opens the door for organic nanoparticles to further improve optical properties in materials,” said Bockstaller.

Future research from the Bockstaller and Matyjaszewski groups will build on this research to further explore functionalization possibilities such as fluorescence for this new class of oNPs and measure their performance in practical applications.