Journal
ACS NANO
Volume 17, Issue 11, Pages 9906-9918Publisher
AMER CHEMICAL SOC
DOI: 10.1021/acsnano.2c09203
Keywords
hierarchical; liquid crystals; nanoparticles; phase transition; self-assembly; soft matter
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In this study, the collective self-assembly of gold nanoparticles in a thermotropic liquid crystal driven by a temperature-induced phase transition was reported. The transition from the isotropic to the nematic phase resulted in the assembly of nanometer-sized particles into arrays of micrometer-sized agglomerates, with the size and spacing controlled by the cooling rate. Phase field simulations showed similar morphology evolution as the experimental observations. This reversible process offers control over structural order on the microscopic level and has potential applications in programmable and reconfigurable nanocomposites with micrometer-sized periodicities.
The arrangement of nanoscale building blocks into patternswithmicroscale periodicity is challenging to achieve via self-assemblyprocesses. Here, we report on the phase-transition-driven collectiveassembly of gold nanoparticles in a thermotropic liquid crystal. Atemperature-induced transition from the isotropic to the nematic phaseunder anchoring-driven planar alignment leads to the assembly of individualnanometer-sized particles into arrays of micrometer-sized agglomerates,whose size and characteristic spacing can be tuned by varying thecooling rate. Phase field simulations coupling the conserved and nonconservedorder parameters exhibit a similar evolution of the morphology asthe experimental observations. This fully reversible process offerscontrol over structural order on the microscopic level and is an interestingmodel system for the programmable and reconfigurable patterning ofnanocomposites with access to micrometer-sized periodicities.
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