Examination of well ordered nanonetwork materials by real- and reciprocal-space imaging

Abstract

The development of well ordered nanonetwork materials (in particular gyroid-structured materials) has been investigated using a block-copolymer template for templated electroless plating as an example system for the examination of network formation using X-ray scattering. By taking advantage of the nucleation and growth mechanism of templated electroless plating, gyroid-structured Au was successfully fabricated through the development of Au nanoparticles, then tripods and branched tripods, and finally an ordered network. Each stage in the development of the network phase could then be examined by combining real-space transmission electron microscopy observations with reciprocal-space small-angle X-ray scattering results. The fingerprint scattering profile of the building block for the network (i.e. the tripod of the gyroid) could be well fitted with the form factor of an effective sphere, and the diffraction results from the ordered network could thus be reasonably addressed. As a result, the examination of well ordered network materials can be simplified as the scattering from the form factor of a sphere convoluted with the nodes of its structure factor, providing a facile method of identifying the network phases from X-ray scattering data.

Computational and materials structural science

“…This type of segregation with core-shell structures is increasingly observed in alloy nanoparticles, as in the earlier work of Gibson et al (2015). Another fascinating area of nanoscience is illustrated by the article of Chiu et al (2019), which describes the formation of gyroid-structured Au nanonetworks, fabricated through the development of Au nanoparticles. A schematic of the resulting structures is shown in Fig 1. Alloy structural science continues to be a widely explored theme, with computational methods being used by Han et al (2019) to predict new Heusler alloys and studies of stress-induced detwinning and phase transformations in ternary alloys by Hou et al (2019).…”

“…The effective spheres are featured as nodes for visualization. Lines are used as a guide to the eye [afterChiu et al (2019)].…”

Encounter between Gyroid and Lamellae in Janus Colloidal Particles Self‐Assembled by a Rod–Coil Block Copolymer

“…[20,21] Self-assembly of BCPs in bulk or solution is efficient in producing the artificial nanostructure with a gyroid phase, which can be characterized by electron tomography technology. [22][23][24][25][26] However, polymer particles with ordered network structures self-assembled in a 3D confined environment are rarely observed in the literature.…”

Electron Crystallographic Investigation of Crystals on the Mesostructural Scale

“…Low-angle X-ray diffraction and small-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS) can be applied to reveal the overall quality of crystallinity and purity. However, it is not possible to completely solve the mesostructures as only a limited number of reflections can be observed due to the large unit cell parameters and the lattice/basis fluctuations which lead to the broadening and overlapping of the reflections (Hsueh et al, 2014; La et al, 2018; Chiu et al, 2019). On the other hand, electron microscopy has shown to be very powerful for solving three-dimensional (3D) structures which provides structural information, not only from reciprocal space but also from real space by imaging.…”