US Patent 7972437 - Hollow nanocrystals

http://www.freepatentsonline.com/7972437.html

This patent is from the Regents of the University of California and includes some basic claims for hollow nanocrystals which may be useful to applications involving ion exchange, molecular separation, catalysis, chromatography, microelectronics, and energy storage. Claim 1 reads:

1. A hollow nanocrystal, comprising:

a nanocrystal shell having a thickness of at least 0.5 nm, said nanocrystal shell enveloping an empty space and lacking a core, wherein, said nanocrystal shell forms a continuous three dimensional domain adopting a three dimensional arrangement of atoms in contrast to molecular sheets and is not perfectly single crystalline.