Abstract:
Recently Yadong Yin and his colleagues in Paul Alivisatos's laboratory were experimenting with ways to modify the surfaces of nanocrystals - particles only a few billionths of a meter in size, comprised of only a few thousand atoms. After exposing cobalt nanocrystals to sulfur, they examined the results under a transmission electron microscope. What they saw came as a surprise: the myriad solid crystals had all turned into hollow spheres.