Hongyou Fan

Nanocrystal-micelle: Synthesis, Self-Assembly and Application

Nanocrystals (NCs) are one of the important building blocks for fabrication of nanostructured arrays for wide range of optical, electronic, magnetic, catalytic and biosensing applications. Here, our recent advances in the synthesis, self-assembly and application of NC-micelles are highlighted.


R&D Magazine 100 Award for Self-assebling process for fabricating tailored thin films

Sandia Researchers and teir collaboartors have reiceived five of the R&D 100 Awards, presented by R&D Magazine to recognize what its judges deem to be the 100 most technologically significant products introduced into the marketplace over the past year. THe Valued awards have been referred to as the Nobel prizes of applied research or the Oscars of invention.

Involoving developement of a simple soft coating process that forms optical, electrical and magnetic thin films from self-assembled nanoparticles. Led by Hongyou Fan, with Bruce Burckel, Jeff Brinker, and Earl Stromberg of Lockheed Martin Aeronautics, the researchers developed a wet-solution-based process employing self-assembly to create engineered nanocomposite thin films with tunable properties by varying particle composition, sizes, shapes, and particle packing density and geometry. With the addition of secondary organic polymers or inorganic components, the nanoparticles self-assemble into ordered arrays embedded in a matrix of the secondary component that provides additional function and robustness in mechanical stability, and durability. The work is an extension of work on nanoparticle self-assembly published in Science in 2004 (Lab News, April 30, 2004) led by Jeff Brinker, Hongyou Fan, and students and faculty from UNM.