Simple Method Yields Complex Micro- and Nanoparticle Shapes

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A collection of scanning electron microscope images (color added) of the particle shapes including capsules (C) tacos (E) and lenses (R). Photo courtesy of Samir Mitragotri.
A collection of scanning electron microscope images (color added) of the particle shapes, including capsules (C), “tacos” (E), and lenses (R). Photo courtesy of Samir Mitragotri.

In applications from drug delivery to electronics, polymer particles several billionths to millionths of a meter in size could play key roles. But before many of these uses can be realized, scientists must thoroughly understand how these particles behave – behaviors that are strongly linked to the particles' precise shapes, which so far have been difficult to produce on demand and in variation. Recently, however, scientists from the University of California at Santa Barbara (UCSB) found a way to widen this bottleneck.


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