Nanomaterials

News and Updates

Bringing Atoms to a Standstill: NIST Miniaturizes Laser Cooling

January 21, 2021

It’s cool to be small. Scientists at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) have miniaturized the optical components required to cool atoms

A picture of vials of SRM 1992 and SRM 1993

NIST Collaboration Yields First Certified Reference Materials for Zeta Potential

January 19, 2021

Two new Standard Reference Materials from the National Institute of Standards and Technology give researchers and manufacturers a way to check the performance

NIST Publishes a Beginner’s Guide to DNA Origami

January 8, 2021

In a technique known as DNA origami, researchers fold long strands of DNA over and over again to construct a variety of tiny 3D structures, including miniature

Projects and Programs

PTIR combines the spatial resolution of AFM with the specificity of absorption spectroscopy

Nano-Chemical Imaging and -Spectroscopy (IR, nIR, VIS)

Conventional techniques for analyzing chemical composition, such as infrared (IR) microscopy often miss critically important nanoscale details. To overcome this

GaN Nanowire Growth

GaN nanowires grown by catalyst-free molecular beam epitaxy have the unique property that most nanowires are completely free of crystalline defects. This

Atomistic Potentials and the Future of Nanomaterials Metrology

As part of NIST's response to the Materials Genome Initiative (MGI), this project provides resources to address some of the challenges to the wider use of

Chemical Characterization of Nanoparticles

The Chemical Sciences Division is helping to support nanotechnology research being conducted throughout NIST by developing and applying methods for the chemical

Publications

Dynamic Structure of Active Sites in Ceria-Supported Pt Catalysts for the Water Gas Shift Reaction

February 10, 2021

Author(s)

Yuanyuan Li, Matthew Kottwitz, Joshua L. Vincent, Zongyuan Liu, Michael J. Enright, Lihua Zhang, Jiahao Huang, Sanjaya D. Senanayake, Wei-Chang D. Yang, Peter A. Crozier, Ralph G. Nuzzo, Anatoly I. Frenkel

Oxide-supported noble metal catalysts have been extensively studied for decades for the water gas shift (WGS) reaction, a catalytic transformation central to a

An outlook into the flat land of 2D materials beyond graphene: synthesis, properties and device applications

December 1, 2020

Author(s)

Amber D. McCreary, Olga Kazakova, Deep Jariwala, Zakaria Al Balushi

The field of two-dimensional (2D) and layered materials continues to excite many researchers around the world who are eager to advance and innovate viable

Parallel multi-parameter study of PEI-functionalized gold nanoparticle synthesis for bio- medical applications: Part 2. Elucidating the role of surface chemistry and polymer structure on performance

November 10, 2020

Author(s)

Tae Joon Cho, Justin M. Gorham, John M. Pettibone, Jingyu Liu, Jiaojie Tan, Vincent A. Hackley

Despite the breadth and quality of published work in this area, it remains unclear how the specific properties of polyethyleneimine (PEI) and the methods

Endothermic reaction at room temperature enabled by deep-ultraviolet plasmons

November 2, 2020

Author(s)

Canhui Wang, Wei-Chang D. Yang, David M. Raciti, Alina Bruma, Ronald Marx, Amit Agrawal, Renu Sharma

Sequestration and conversion of CO2 is a promising method for remedying climate change. However, current technologies remain limited due to infeasible system

Software

HolograFREE

An electron hologram is a fringe modulated image containing the amplitude and phase information of an electron transparent object. The HolograFREE routines

Tools and Instruments

Raman facility

Raman scattering is a powerful light scattering technique used to diagnose the internal structure of molecules and crystals. In a light scattering experiment

Aberration-Corrected Transmission Electron Microscope (TEM)

Probe corrected 200kV analytic electron microscope Resolves single atoms Chemical analytic capability (EELS, EDS) Highest resolution in electron optics (<0.1

Dual Beam Focused Ion Beam / Scanning Electron Microscope (FIB/SEM)

Dual beam focused ion beam/scanning electron microscope (FESEM). Focused ion beam using Ga atoms allows the patterning of objects at ~10 nm level (milling and

Local Electrode Atom Probe Tomography (LEAP)

Field evaporates (with a voltage and laser pulse) a sharp tip-shaped specimen. Collects the ionization products in a position-sensitive, time-of-flight mass

Awards

Vincent Hackley Honored by ASTM

The award was presented by the E56 Chairwoman, Debbie Kaiser (NIST Office of Data and Informatics), in Houston, Texas on November 4, 2019 at...

Elijah Petersen Honored with PECASE

The Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers (PECASE) is the highest honor bestowed by the United States Government to...