The anisotropically phase-segregated CoPd sulfide nanoparticles, named "CoPd nanoacorns", were spontaneously generated by reducing the corresponding metal precursors with 1,2-hexadecanediol in the presence of various alkanethiols. The CoPd nanoacorn consisting of crystalline Co9S8 and amorphous PdSx phases with the Co9S8 (001) plane at their interface was found to spontaneously form through the anisotropic growth of the Co9S8 phase after the generation of PdSx nanoparticles.

Direct imaging of the bulk heterojunction (BHJ) thin film morphology in polymer-based solar cells is essential to understand device function and optimize efficiency. The morphology of the BHJ active layer consists of bicontinuous domains of the donor and acceptor materials, having characteristic length scales of several tens of nanometers, that reduces charge recombination, enhances charge separation, and enables electron and hole transport to their respective electrodes. Direct imaging of the morphology from the molecular to macroscopic level, though, is lacking. Though transmission electron tomography provides a 3D, real-space image of the morphology, quantifying the structure is not possible. Here we used high-resolution atomic force microscopy (AFM) in the tapping and nanomechanical modes to investigate the BHJ active layer morphology that, when combined with Ar(+) etching, provided unique insights with unparalleled spatial resolution. PCBM was seen to form a network that interpenetrated into the fibrillar network of the hole-conducting polymer, both being imbedded in a mixture of the two components. The free surface was found to be enriched with polymer crystals having a "face-on" orientation and the morphology at the anode interface was markedly different.

One-pot synthesis of FePt nanoparticles larger than 5 nm with controlled composition has been developed by the polyol reduction of platinum acetylacetonate and iron acetylacetonate in excess ligands. The obtained large FePt nanoparticles (6.1 +/- 0.6 nm Fe36Pt64, 5.8 +/- 0.7 nm Fe44Pt56, and 5.1 +/- 0.7 nm Fe49Pt51 nanoparticles) were thermally more stable than the small ones and were hard to coalesce in the in-plane direction for their 2D superlattice.

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Exchange-coupled fct-FePd/alpha-Fe nanocomposite magnets were fabricated by converting anisotropically phase-segregated Pd/gamma-Fe2O3 nanoparticles via the interfacial atom diffusion. The magnetically hard fct-FePd phases formed by the interdiffusion between alpha-Fe and fcc-Pd phases nearly preserve their sizes at the nanometer scale because they are surrounded by the alpha-Fe matrix. The VSM measurements reveal that the exchange coupling between the soft and hard phases has been realized.