Thin‐Film‐Based Nanoarchitectures for Soft Matter: Controlled Assemblies into Two‐Dimensional Worlds

Abstract

Controlling the organization of molecular building blocks at the nanometer level is of utmost importance, not only from the viewpoint of scientific curiosity, but also for the development of next-generation organic devices with electrical, optical, chemical, or biological functions. Self-assembly offers great potential for the manufacture of nanoarchitectures (nanostructures and nanopatterns) over large areas by using low-energy and inexpensive spontaneous processes. However, self-assembled structures in 3D media, such as solutions or solids, are not easily incorporated into current device-oriented nanotechnology. The scope of this review is therefore to introduce the expanding methodology for the construction of thin-film-based nanoarchitectures on solid surfaces and to try to address a general concept with emphasis on the availability of dynamic interfaces for the creation and manipulation of nanoarchitectures. In this review, the strategies for the construction of nanostructures, the control and manipulation of nanopatterns, and the application of nanoarchitectures are described; the construction strategies are categorized into three classes: i) π-conjugated molecular assembly in two dimensions, ii) bio-directed molecular assembly on surfaces, and iii) recent thin-film preparation technologies.

Forming nanomaterials as layered functional structures toward materials nanoarchitectonics

“…12,13 In particular, engineering processes aimed at scaleup of ultrathin film preparation has been investigated from the point-ofview of future practical applications. For example, Yan et al 14 reported epitaxial formation of bilayer Bernal graphene on copper foil through chemical vapor deposition process.…”

Nanorings and rods interconnected by self-assembly mimicking an artificial network of neurons

“…Self-assembly as a tool to form long-range interconnected 1D-or 2D-nanostructures with tuneable optical, electrical and magnetic properties may represent a possible solution towards the mass production of molecular circuits. In such a case, the fabrication of nanostructures would completely rely on spontaneous bottom-up processes depending on different factors: geometry and chemical nature of the building blocks, and their intermolecular forces (that is, Coulombic, van der Waals, dipolar and p-p) [9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16] . The chemical fine tuning of the selected building blocks is an interesting approach, which may give rise to selective formation of interconnected nanoarchitectures after selfassembly.…”

Additive nanomanufacturing – A review

“…The assembly of these components can be directed by a variety of interparticle forces, 152 which are commonly used to create molecular monolayers on surfaces, which is extremely useful for thin film applications, 153 and ordered arrays of nanoparticles. 154 This has proven to be an extremely useful tool for nanofabrication, with an extensive body of research investigating the various methods and applications of self-assembly.…”

“…Selfassembly is therefore not available as a standalone fabrication method that can build completely arbitrary assemblies, but it does allow for existing surfaces and objects to be functionalised to perform other useful tasks, 153,158,159,160 including large-scale growth of features like carbon nanotubes for circuits. Patterning areas of a surface for self-assembly, although limited to the resolution of the preceding lithography steps, can even direct the very precise manipulation of nanoparticles individually.…”