US Patent 7476442 - Ligand linked nanoparticle chain

http://www.freepatentsonline.com/7476442.html

This patent from M.I.T. appears to disclose a method of making a nanoparticle chain system analogous to polymeric chains of molecules. Claim 1 reads:

1. A method for creating a multiple-nanoparticle assembly in a controlled fashion, comprising the steps of:

providing a plurality of nanoparticles;

providing a plurality of ligands, each of the ligands comprising at least one linker arm;

attaching at least one ligand to each of the plurality of nanoparticles; and

reacting at least one ligand linker arm with a linker arm of a ligand attached to another nanoparticle, forming an assembly of multiple nanoparticles.