The following proposals in the 1997 Investment Fund Competition have been selected as finalists. Recent studies at industrial and university research laboratories show that nanoparticles can be used to develop materials with unique properties.
Some people even believe that nanoparticles constitute another state of matter.
Despite their potential, very few applications have been developed because of the high cost of these materials. The goal of this proposal is to build a small focused group in Ohio aiming in synthesis of nanostructured particles. It involves three relatively young but highly motivated research groups working in synthesis and characterization of nanoparticles. At this stage capitol funds are requested to acquire equipment to investigate the fundamentals of particle formation and growth in these units. In addition, larger reactors will be built producing sufficient quantities of these materials for testing and evaluation by the industry.