Kumar's group, experts
in tuning the structure and therefore the properties of polymer nanocomposites, found that, by mixing nanoparticles
in a solution of polymers (polyethylene oxide) and
changing the crystallization
speed by varying the degree of sub-cooling (namely how far below the melting point the crystallization was conducted), they could control how the nanoparticles self - assembled into three different scale regimes: nano,
micro, and macro-meter.