US Patent 7988887 - Metal-polymer nanocomposite

http://www.freepatentsonline.com/7988887.html

This patent from Los Alamos National Security teaches a new way to form substrates for surface enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) using gold or silver nanostructures. Claim 1 reads:

1. A metal-polymer composite comprising:

a) a thermally-cured dense polyaniline substrate;

b) an acid dopant; and,

c) metal nanostructure deposits wherein the deposits have a morphology dependent upon the acid dopant.

US Patent 7935419 - Thick shell nanocrystal quantum dots

http://www.freepatentsonline.com/7935419.html

This patent from Los Alamos National Security teaches a way to increase the stability and decrease blinking in semiconductor quantum dots by using multilayer outer shells. Claim 1 reads:

1. Colloidal nanocrystal quantum dots comprising an inner core having an average diameter of at least 1.5 nm and an outer shell, wherein the outer shell comprises at least seven monolayers of an inorganic material, wherein at least one of said monolayers comprises CdS, and wherein at least 30% of the quantum dots have an on-time fraction of at least 0.80 for a period of at least 10 minutes.

US Patent 7914588 - Synthesis of fluorescent metal nanoclusters

http://www.freepatentsonline.com/7914588.html

This patent is from Los Alamos National Security teaches a method of preparing biomolecule taggants based on metal nanoparticles. Claim 1 reads:

1. A method for preparing fluorescent nanoclusters, comprising:

mixing an aqueous solution of a dendrimer template and a metal precursor in a dark environment at a temperature of 4 degrees Celsius that is cold enough to prevent the substantial formation of non-fluorescent metal nanoclusters and nanoparticles but allow the formation of a complex between the dendrimer template and metal from the metal precursor, whereby a complex forms between the template and metal from the metal precursor; and

increasing the temperature, whereby the complex is reduced and fluorescent metal nanoclusters are produced.