Deposition in supercritical fluids: from silver to semiconductors

There is great interest in developing new routes to novel functional materials, particularly for heterogeneous nanocomposites of metals or semiconductors with polymeric hosts. Supercritical fluids have become important media for the synthesis of such nanocomposites largely because of their unique properties, but also through their perceived environmental benefits over conventional routes. In this feature article, we focus on the deposition of silver and semiconductor nanoparticles into polymer substrates by use of supercritical fluids. These processes develop nanocomposites with distinct characteristics for optical and biomedical applications. The preparation and characterisation of silver and semiconductor nanoparticles is described and a brief discussion is also extended to some other novel deposition systems in supercritical fluids.