Patent Number: 
Section: claims

1. A method of modifying the performance of a composite material, the method comprising the acts of: preparing at least two dissimilar component substances in a nanomaterial form; and  placing the at least two nanomaterial component substances in proximity with each other to form a composite material such that the component substances share grain boundaries thereby inducing charge at the shared grain boundaries; wherein  the induced charge modifies the performance of each component substance. 2. The method of  claim 1  where the modified performance is a catalytic performance. claim 1 3. The method of  claim 1  further comprising applying an external electric field. claim 1 4. The method of  claim 1  wherein the performance of each component substance is modified by at least 5% in comparison with the performance of the component substance when the component substance is not placed in proximity with another of the dissimilar nanomaterial component substances. claim 1