Work from the group of Henrik Birkedal with Duncan Sutherland as collaborator and published in Crystal Growth & Design was featured on the cover of the journal. The image shows a photograph with polarized light through a transparent nanoparticle assembly. The accompanying paper describes the synthesis of these disordered transparent aggregates .

Transparent aggregates several millimeters in size were obtained by sedimentation and solvent evaporation of nanocrystalline hydroxyapatite/amorphous calcium phosphate microparticles stabilized by citrate. Sedimentation leads to formation of a particle size gradient in the vertical direction frequently leading to spiral fracture patterns.

To read the whole article:  http://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/cg501080c

For more information contact:

Associate Professor Henrik Birkedal
iNANO & Department of Chemistry, Aarhus University
Cell: +45 22508475
hbirkedal@chem.au.dk

Associate Professor Duncan Sutherland
iNANO Center, AU
cell +45 23385789
duncan@inano.au.dk