Nanoparticles confined in polyelectrolytes
Methods of producing stabilized composite nanoparticles comprising a nanoparticle and a multiple polyelectrolyte stabilizing moiety layer, a method of producing a multilayer stabilized composite nanoparticle, and such nanoparticles.
1. A nanoparticle composite comprising a nanoparticle surrounded within a layer of a plurality of collapsed polymeric polyelectrolyte stabilizing moieties, wherein the nanoparticle composite has a mean diameter in the range of between about 1 nm to about 100 nm.
2. The composite nanoparticle of claim 1 wherein one or more of the polyelectrolyte stabilizing moieties is cross-linked.
3. The composite nanoparticle of claim 2 wherein the cross-linking is accomplished by one of the following: electromagnetic radiation induced cross-linking, chemically induced cross-linking or thermally induced cross-linking.
4. The composite nanoparticle of claim 1 wherein the polymeric stabilizing moiety layer is porous to small chemical entities.
5. The composite nanoparticle of claim 4 wherein the small chemical entities have a mean size in the range of about 1 nm to about 5 nm.
6. The composite nanoparticle of claim 1 wherein the polymeric stabilizing moiety layer comprises one of the following: an ionizable polymer, an ionized polymer, a single polymer molecule, co-polymers thereof, and a combination of polymer compounds.
7. The composite nanoparticle of claim 1 wherein at least one of the polymeric stabilizing moieties comprises one of the following: poly (styrene sulfonate), poly(diallyldimethylammonium chloride), poly(acrylic acid), poly(ethyleneimine) and poly(allylamine hydrochloride).
8. The composite nanoparticle of claim 1 wherein at least one of the polymeric stabilizing moieties layer has a net charge.
9. The composite nanoparticle of claim 8 supported by a substrate forming a stabilized nanoparticle layer on the substrate.
10. The composite nanoparticle of claim 9 wherein the substrate surface has a net charge.
11. The composite nanoparticle of claim 9 wherein a second nanoparticle composite with an opposite charge polarity of the first nanoparticle composite is adsorbed to the stabilized nanoparticle layer.
12. The nanoparticle composite of claim 9 wherein the nanoparticle and substrate are sintered.
13. The nanoparticle composite of claim 1 wherein the nanoparticle composite is wholly encapsulated within a layer of a plurality of collapsed polymeric polyelectrolyte stabilizing moieties, wherein the nanoparticle composite has a mean diameter in the range of between about 1 nm and about 100 nm.