Self-assembly of octapod-shaped colloidal nanocrystals into a hexagonal ballerina network embedded in a thin polymer film.

ABSTRACT: Nanoparticles with unconventional shapes may exhibit different types of assembly architectures that depend critically on the environmental conditions under which they are formed. Here, we demonstrate how the presence of polymer (polymethyl methacrylate, PMMA) molecules in a solution, in which CdSe(core)/CdS(pods) octapods are initially dispersed, affects the octapod-polymer organization upon solvent evaporation. We show that a fast drop-drying process can induce a remarkable two-dimensional (2D) self-assembly of octapods at the polymer/air interface. In the resulting structure, each octapod is oriented like a "ballerina", that is, only one pod sticks out of the polymer film and is perpendicular to the polymer-air interface, while the opposite pod (with respect to the octapod's center) is f

SUBMITTER: Arciniegas MP 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3924848 | biostudies-literature | 2014 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature