Uniform nonspherical colloidal particles with tunable shapes

A new seeded-polymerization technique has been developed that uses the crosslinking forces to synthesize a variety of uniform nonspherical colloidal particles with tunable shapes in large synthesis scales. This technique involves controlling the directionality of phase separations in the seeded- polymerization technique by manipulating the crosslinking density gradients of the seed particles that enable to generate a variety of particle shapes including rod, cone, triangle, and diamond particles. The ability to produce large quantities to produce large quantities of uniform nonspherical particles enables the exploration of many new applications. The results of the experiment, in which the role crosslinking in particle morphology has been performed, illustrate the potential usefulness of first synthesizing nonspherical particles at larger length scales, thereby postponing the more difficult problem of controlling surface tension until the latter stages of particles development.