Direct 3‐D Nanoparticle Assemblies in Thin Films via Topographically Patterned Surfaces

Abstract

Simple yet versatile routes to generate macroscopically aligned 3-D NP arrays with tunable structures in supramolecular nanocomposite thin films are presented using faceted and lithographically patterned surfaces. These studies provide a powerful platform for the investigation of emerging structure-property relationships in functional nanocomposites, paving the way for the realization of next-generation devices.

Hierarchical nanostructures of diblock copolymer thin films directed by a saw-toothed substrate

“…However, due to the connectivity of the two chains, block copolymers show micro-phase separation instead. 20,[33][34][35][36][37][38][39][40][41][42][43][44][45][46][47][48][49] Experimentally, BCPs are usually spin-coated onto a topographically or a chemically patterned substrate to form a thin film by either thermal annealing or solvent annealing treatment to investigate their self-assembly behaviors. 26,27 At the beginning of this field, the researchers mainly devoted to finding different morphologies or exploring a fundamental phase diagram.…”

Hierarchical Assembly of Plasmonic Nanoparticles*

“…Recently, Xu and co-workersr eported the three-dimensional organization of gold nanoparticles included in BCP domains, resulting in large assemblies (upt o3cm) using as aw-toothed faceted substrate. [32] Remarkably,t he nanoparticles followed the alignment of the BCP and formed unidirectional chains ( Figure 3B). In this work, am aximum of ten stacked layers of NPs was obtained because confinemente ffects imposed by the substrate decreasea st he thickness of the nanocomposite increases.…”

“…The image in the right panel is aG IGAXSp attern demonstrating long range order,o ver 3cm. [32] Chem. Eur.J.2015, 21,9956 -9963 www.chemeurj.org ferred to as evaporative lithography,a re the low cost, high throughput, and no need of substrate modification for reusability of the mask.…”

Ordered polymer composite materials: challenges and opportunities

“…Thus, BCP confinement methods would greatly benefit from the development of new materials and techniques for both rapid formatting periodic superstructures and robust expansion of the types of superstructures that can be achieved with these methods, enabling both a wider array of materials for further investigation and more facile scale-up for industrial applications. 101,120 Thirdly, fundamental questions on how NP morphology, concentration, and surface chemistry affect the BCP mesophase structure must be answered; 118, 121-124 these NP parameters are not simply "passive scalars" existing in isolation from the surrounding BCP matrix, and can potentially alter the resulting BCP structure by modulating polymer-polymer forces of interaction or altering preferred polymer chain conformations. 108,125 Finally, while NP distribution within the nanocomposite can be governed by the confined nanoscale environment, controlling the spatial organization of each NP within a polymer block remains a significant challenge.…”