Nanoparticle superlattices enabled by soft epitaxial strategy

Abstract

Bottom-up self-assembly of nanoparticles into highly-ordered nanoparticle superlattices is intriguing and produces new materials with emergent properties. This review outlines the recent progress in the nanoparticle superlattices enabled by soft-epitaxial assembly strategy. Three distinct "substrates" that are applied to conduct the nanoparticle assembly were introduced, including two-dimensional nanoparticle superlattices, porous organic cage crystal and supramolecular polymers. In the presence of diverse substrates, the dimensionalities of nanoparticle superlattices, including one-dimensional chains, two-dimensional sheets and three dimensional crystals can be rationally modulated. The mechanism underlying such soft epitaxial growth is discussed, which should be of particular importance in the development of hybrid materials from inorganic and organic materials with well-ordered structure.