Reversible Microscale Assembly of Nanoparticles Driven by the Phase Transition of a Thermotropic Liquid Crystal

Niamh Mac Fhionnlaoich; Stephen Schrettl; Nicholas B. Tito; Ye Yang; Malavika Nair; Luis A. Serrano; Kellen Harkness; Paulo Jacob Silva; Holger Frauenrath; Francesca Serra; W. Craig Carter; Francesco Stellacci; Stefan Guldin

doi:10.1021/acsnano.2c09203

journal article·2023-06-13Open access

Reversible Microscale Assembly of Nanoparticles Driven by the Phase Transition of a Thermotropic Liquid Crystal

Niamh Mac Fhionnlaoich, Stephen Schrettl, Nicholas B. Tito, Ye Yang, Malavika Nair, Luis A. Serrano, Kellen Harkness, Paulo Jacob Silva, Holger Frauenrath, Francesca Serra, W. Craig Carter, Francesco Stellacci, Stefan Guldin

ACS Nano· Volume 17· Issue 11

Publisher page Open full text

Source abstract

Abstract

The arrangement of nanoscale building blocks into patterns with microscale periodicity is challenging to achieve via self-assembly processes. Here, we report on the phase-transition-driven collective assembly of gold nanoparticles in a thermotropic liquid crystal. A temperature-induced transition from the isotropic to the nematic phase under anchoring-driven planar alignment leads to the assembly of individual nanometer-sized particles into arrays of micrometer-sized agglomerates, whose size and characteristic spacing can be tuned by varying the cooling rate. Phase field simulations coupling the conserved and nonconserved order parameters exhibit a similar evolution of the morphology as the experimental observations. This fully reversible process offers control over structural order on the microscopic level and is an interesting model system for the programmable and reconfigurable patterning of nanocomposites with access to micrometer-sized periodicities.

Source: openalex_inverted_index · Quality: baseline

Research context

Nanomaterials

OpenAlex topics: Liquid Crystal Research Advancements · Advanced Materials and Mechanics · Plant Reproductive Biology

SciVX discovery tags are terminology-based. OpenAlex topics are source-provided classifications.

Affiliations

Department of Chemical Engineering, University College London, London WC1E 7JE, United Kingdom

Institute of Materials, École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, 1015 Lausanne, Switzerland

Department of Applied Physics and Science Education, Eindhoven University of Technology, 5612 AP Eindhoven, The Netherlands

Department of Physics, Chemistry and Pharmacy, University of Southern Denmark, 5230 Odense, Denmark

Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139, United States

Funding

Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council · H2020 Health · University College London · Deutsche Akademie der Naturforscher Leopoldina - Nationale Akademie der Wissenschaften · 4TU.High-Tech Materials

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