Scientists have developed a new method for producing nanocrystals from materials that were previously considered extremely difficult, or nearly impossible, to make at the nanoscale.
The research was carried out by chemists at the University of Chicago and Argonne National Laboratory. Their work, published in Nature, introduces a molten-salt method that makes it possible to create nanocrystals from metal nitrides, a valuable class of materials used in modern electronics, lighting, medical implants, superconductors, and catalysts.
Nanocrystals are tiny crystals so small that millions or even billions of them could fit on a fingernail. At this scale, materials can behave differently from their larger forms. They may produce intense light, speed up chemical reactions, or become useful in flexible and printed technologies.
Although nanocrystals have become important in science and technology, researchers have only been able to make them from a limited range of materials. Metal nitrides, despite their usefulness, have remained especially difficult to synthesize as nanocrystals.
Metal nitrides are compounds made from metals and nitrogen. They are known for being strong, durable, resistant to heat and corrosion, and compatible with biological tissue. For example, gallium nitride is widely used in LED lighting and electronic displays, while titanium nitride is used in medical implants.
Turning these materials into nanocrystals could greatly expand their applications. Instead of being limited mostly to rigid films, metal nitride nanocrystals could one day be mixed into polymers, printed with inkjet technology, or incorporated into fabrics and flexible devices.
The major challenge has been their strong chemical bonds. During crystal formation, atoms and ions must break and reform bonds as they arrange into the correct structure. In metal nitrides, the bonds between metal and nitrogen atoms are so strong that the particles struggle to reorganize properly.
To solve this, the researchers used molten salts as a special reaction medium. The molten salts helped stabilize the nanocrystals as they formed. The team also identified the right combination of temperature and ammonia pressure to loosen the strong metal-nitrogen bonds enough for nanocrystal formation.
Using this approach, the researchers successfully produced nanocrystals from gallium nitride and nearly a dozen other metal nitride materials. These included titanium nitride, niobium nitride, and molybdenum nitride, which are useful in medicine, superconducting technologies, and industrial catalysis.
The breakthrough expands the range of materials that can be made into nanocrystals and opens new opportunities for advanced technologies.
Because many metal nitrides are strong, affordable, and technologically important, producing them as nanocrystals could support future development in printed electronics, flexible lighting, wearable devices, medical implants, and durable functional materials.
The study shows that by rethinking how difficult materials are synthesized, scientists can unlock new possibilities for nanotechnology and materials engineering.
Journal Reference:
Lin, R., Khokhar, V., Jiang, N., Cho, W., Zhou, Z., Wang, D., Ondry, J. C., Mi, Z., Cassidy, J., Hinkle, A. M., Filatov, A. S., Anderson, J. S., Schaller, R. D., Jiang, D., & Talapin, D. V. (2026). Ammonia pressure controls colloidal metal nitride synthesis in molten salts. Nature. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-026-10801-3