Nanoscale & Nanoscale Advances Blog

Modelling zinc oxide nanoparticle formation could provide new insights into how snowflakes form as well as aiding nanoscale device research, say Chinese scientists.

Different patterns are fomed depending on the coverage of the surface

Snowflakes are formed in the atmosphere via complicated crystallisation and melting processes. What exactly happens is one of the great mysteries of nature but despite unwavering interest, the formation mechanism remains unknown. In addition to being a curiosity, this knowledge could have important scientific and technological relevance by providing insights into crystal growth dynamics and pattern formation during solidification. This could help in nanoscale device self-assembly.

Hong-Jun Gao and his team at the Chinese Academy of Sciences in Beijing have found that when synthesising ZnO nanoparticles under appropriate conditions, symmetric patterns resembling snowflakes are formed on the surface. ‘It is a fortuitous discovery to some extent,’ says Gao.

To view the full Highlights in Chemical Science article, please click here: Zinc oxide snowflakes

Link to journal article

Atomic-scale tuning of self-assembled ZnO microscopic patterns: from dendritic fractals to compact island
Chen Li, Guo Li, Chengmin Shen, Chao Hui, Jifa Tian, Shixuan Du, Zhenyu Zhang and Hong-Jun Gao, Nanoscale, 2010
DOI: 10.1039/c0nr00421a

We received the great news this morning that Nanoscale has been accepted for inclusion in the prestigious MEDLINE abstracting / indexing service.

All articles published in Nanoscale (going back to the very first issue) will now be included, and searchable using PubMed. This will provide even greater visibility to the great research being published in the journal, particularly in the bio / medical communities.

Nanoscale is already fully-indexed in other leading databases, including Web of Science, and Scopus. ISI have confirmed Nanoscale will appear in the 2010 Journal Citation Report (and hence receive an official Impact Factor) – this will be published in June 2011.