Patent ID: 7709411

Claim:
A method of manufacturing a multicomponent nanoparticle material, comprising: preparing an aqueous mixture comprised of: a first plurality of nanoparticle atoms selected from a first group of the periodic table of elements; a second plurality of nanoparticle atoms selected from a second group of the periodic table of elements different from the first group; mixing the aqueous mixture with a polyfunctional dispersing agent in order to form an intermediate multicomponent complex with atoms of the first plurality of nanoparticle atoms and atoms of the second plurality of nanoparticle atoms within an aqueous solvent or carrier, the polyfunctional dispersing agent including individual molecules having at least two functional groups selected from the group consisting of functional groups having a negative charge and functional groups having one or more lone pairs of electrons, the polyfunctional dispersing agent at least partially determining an arrangement of the first and second nanoparticle atoms in the intermediate mutlicomponent complex; wherein the polyfunctional dispersing agent is selected from the group consisting of pectins, amino acids, celluloses, glycolic acid, oxalic acid, malic acid, citric acid, polyacrylates, polyvinylbenzoates, poly vinyl sulfate, polyvinyl sulfonates including sulfonated styrene, polybisphenol carbonates, polybenzimidizoles, polypyridine, sulfonated polyethylene terephthalate, polyvinyl alcohol, polyethylene glycol, polypropylene glycol, and combinations thereof; causing or allowing the intermediate multicomponent complex to form intermediate multicomponent nanoparticles bound to or associated with the polyfunctional dispersing agent; and removing at least a portion of the polyfunctional dispersing agent from the intermediate multicomponent nanoparticles by at least one of reduction or oxidation in order to yield the multicomponent nanoparticle material, the multicomponent nanoparticle material comprising multicomponent nanoparticles that include the first and second nanoparticle atoms within each multicomponent nanoparticle and have a size less than about 100 nm.