Hollow nanoparticles linked by DNA make unusually strong materials
DNA’s strong bonds can act as a glue to make nanoparticles into sturdy materialsVladislav Kochelaevskiy/Alamy
A material made from hollow nanoparticles and DNA is exceptionally strong, especially considering how small its building blocks are. It could eventually be used to build extremely sturdy medical and electronic devices.
To make this super strong material, Horacio Espinosa at Northwestern University in Illinois and his colleagues started with particles made from metals like gold and platinum, each about 100 nanometres in size. Some were shaped like solid or hollow cubes with flattened corners, while others formed just the edges of a cube.
The best way to ensure that a material has the properties you want is to assemble it from scratch, one building block at a tim...