Nanoparticles are key to a range of applications, due
to the properties
that emerge as a result of their small size. However, their size also
presents challenges to their processing and use, especially in relation
to their immobilization on solid supports without losing their favorable
functionalities. Here, we present a multifunctional polymer-bridge-based
approach to attach a range of presynthesized nanoparticles onto microparticle
supports. We demonstrate the attachment of mixtures of different types
of metal-oxide nanoparticles, as well as metal-oxide nanoparticles
modified with standard wet chemistry approaches. We then show that
our method can also create composite films of metal and metal-oxide
nanoparticles by exploiting different chemistries simultaneously.
We finally apply our approach to the synthesis of designer microswimmers
with decoupled mechanisms of steering (magnetic) and propulsion (light)
via asymmetric nanoparticle binding, aka Toposelective Nanoparticle
Attachment. We envision that this ability to freely mix available
nanoparticles to produce composite films will help bridge the fields
of catalysis, nanochemistry, and active matter toward new materials
and applications.