A new coating technology developed at MIT, combined with a novel nanoparticle-manufacturing technology developed at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, may offer scientists a way to quickly mass-produce tailored nanoparticles that are specially coated for specific applications, including medicines and electronics.
Using this new combination of the two existing technologies, scientists can produce very small, uniform particles with customized layers of material that can carry drugs or other molecules to interact with their environment, or even target specific types of cells.
Hammond and Joseph DeSimone, the Chancellor’s Eminent Professor of Chemistry at UNC and the William R. Kenan Jr. Distinguished Professor of Chemical Engineering at North Carolina State University, are the senior authors of a paper describing the technology in the July 1 online edition of Advanced Materials. Lead author of the paper is Stephen Morton, a graduate student in Hammond’s lab. Continue reading on MIT NEWS. Photo by Kevin E. Shopsowitz and Stephen W. Morton.