July 29, 2013

Tetrapod Quantum Dots Light the Way to Stronger Polymers



Berkeley Lab Researchers Use Fluorescent Tetrapod Quantum Dots to Measure the Mechanical Strength of Polymer Fibers

Fluorescent tetrapod nanocrystals could light the way to the future design of stronger polymer nanocomposites. A team of researchers with the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE)’s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) has developed an advanced opto-mechanical sensing technique based on tetrapod quantum dots that allows precise measurement of the tensile  strength of polymer fibers with minimal impact on the fiber’s mechanical properties.