Chemical‐Bonding‐Directed Hierarchical Assembly of Nanoribbon‐Shaped Nanocomposites of Gold Nanorods and Poly(3‐hexylthiophene)

Abstract

Nanoribbon-shaped nanocomposites composed of conjugated polymer poly(3-hexylthiophene) (P3HT) nanoribbons and plasmonic gold nanorods (AuNRs) were crafted by a co-assembly of thiol-terminated P3HT (P3HT-SH) nanofibers with dodecanethiol-coated AuNRs (AuNRs-DDT). First, P3HT-SH nanofibers were formed due to interchain π-π stacking. Upon the addition of AuNRs-DDT, P3HT-SH nanofibers were transformed into nanoribbons decorated with the aligned AuNRs on the surface (i.e., nanoribbon-like P3HT/AuNRs nanocomposites). Depending on the surface coverage of the P3HT nanoribbons by AuNRs, these hierarchically assembled nanocomposites exhibited broadened and red-shifted absorption bands of AuNRs in nIR region due to the plasmon coupling of adjacent aligned AuNRs and displayed quenched photoluminescence of P3HT. Such conjugated polymer/plasmonic nanorod nanocomposites may find applications in fields, such as building blocks for complex superstructures, optical biosensors, and optoelectronic devices.

Large‐Scale Rapid Positioning of Hierarchical Assemblies of Conjugated Polymers via Meniscus‐Assisted Self‐Assembly

“…due to the spatial arrangement of nanomaterials over multiple length scales [1] . In this context, several solution‐based techniques, such as template‐directed assembly, [2] bottom‐up assembly, [3, 4] and inkjet printing, [5] have been developed to yield hierarchically ordered assemblies. Notably, these approaches often involve the use of expensive equipment or require a complex multistep process for template preparation or assembly formation.…”

Platinum(II)‐Based Supramolecular Scaffold‐Templated Side‐by‐Side Assembly of Gold Nanorods through Pt⋅⋅⋅Pt and π–π Interactions

“…With a view to studying such structure–property relationships in the solution phase, a variety of side‐selective or end‐selective binding agents, such as DNA, polymers,, peptides, EDTA, biotin/streptavidin,, cysteamine, and antibodies have been applied to direct the side‐by‐side or end‐to‐end assembly of the GNRs through non‐covalent/covalent interactions. On the other hand, in recent years, there has been a rising interest in the utilization of soft templates, such as DNA origami, viruses, polymers, carbon nanotubes, and graphenes, in the guidance of self‐assembly of nanomaterials owing to the fact that, with well‐defined topology and multivalent effect, these robust and pre‐organized frameworks can allow the nanoparticles to be positioned on the substrates with predetermined directions and positions, and, by programming the interactions between the template‐nanoparticle units, this approach can allow a facile way to achieve complicated nano‐architectures . Undoubtedly, the template effect has opened up a new opportunity to efficiently fabricate highly ordered nanoassemblies.…”

The Assembly and Jamming of Nanoparticle Surfactants at Liquid–Liquid Interfaces

“…[15][16][17][18][19][20] In addition to NPs, small molecules and polymers can also be used as building blocks to generate interfacial assemblies, underscoring the generality of NPSs. [21][22][23][24][25][26][27][28] A fundamental question arises as to the dynamic nature of the NPSs at the interface and whether the size-dependent assembly of NPSs to the interface can be induced, since part of the NP surface is anchored by polymeric ligands in a NPS system, and the NPSs are irreversibly bound to the interface. In previous studies, by using electrostatic interactions to generate NPSs at the interface, a displacement behavior of NPs with different sizes was observed.…”

“…The binding energy of the NP to the interface is sufficiently increased to hold the NPSs at the interface under compression, causing the NPSs to jam, affording the possibility to arrest liquids in highly non‐equilibrium shapes, i.e., structuring liquids, which shows a myriad of potential applications in encapsulation, biphasic reactors, and programmable liquid constructs [15–20] . In addition to NPs, small molecules and polymers can also be used as building blocks to generate interfacial assemblies, underscoring the generality of NPSs [21–28] . A fundamental question arises as to the dynamic nature of the NPSs at the interface and whether the size‐dependent assembly of NPSs to the interface can be induced, since part of the NP surface is anchored by polymeric ligands in a NPS system, and the NPSs are irreversibly bound to the interface.…”