Interpolymer Complexation as a Strategy for Nanoparticle Assembly and Crystallization

Nayak, Srikanth; Horst, Nathan; Zhang, Honghu; Wang, Wenjie; Mallapragada, Surya; Travesset, Alex; Vaknin, David

Interpolymer Complexation as a Strategy for Nanoparticle Assembly and Crystallization

File

IS_J_9858.pdf (3.36 MB)

Date

2018-12-07

Authors

Nayak, Srikanth

Horst, Nathan

Zhang, Honghu

Wang, Wenjie

Mallapragada, Surya

Travesset, Alex

Vaknin, David

Organizational Units

Organizational Unit

Ames National Laboratory

Ames National Laboratory is a government-owned, contractor-operated national laboratory of the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), operated by and located on the campus of Iowa State University in Ames, Iowa.

For more than 70 years, the Ames National Laboratory has successfully partnered with Iowa State University, and is unique among the 17 DOE laboratories in that it is physically located on the campus of a major research university. Many of the scientists and administrators at the Laboratory also hold faculty positions at the University and the Laboratory has access to both undergraduate and graduate student talent.

Organizational Unit

Physics and Astronomy

Physics and astronomy are basic natural sciences which attempt to describe and provide an understanding of both our world and our universe. Physics serves as the underpinning of many different disciplines including the other natural sciences and technological areas.

Organizational Unit

Materials Science and Engineering

Materials engineers create new materials and improve existing materials. Everything is limited by the materials that are used to produce it. Materials engineers understand the relationship between the properties of a material and its internal structure — from the macro level down to the atomic level. The better the materials, the better the end result — it’s as simple as that.

Department

Ames National LaboratoryPhysics and AstronomyMaterials Science and EngineeringChemical and Biological Engineering, Neuroscience

Abstract

Controlled self-assembly of nanoparticles into ordered structures is a major step to fabricating nanotechnology-based devices. Here, we report on the self-assembly of high quality superlattices of nanoparticles in aqueous suspensions induced via interpolymer complexation. Using small-angle X-ray scattering, we demonstrate that the NPs crystallize into superlattices of face-centered-cubic symmetry, initially driven by hydrogen bonding and subsequently by van der Waals forces between the complexed coronas of hydrogen-bonded polymers. We show that the lattice constant and crystal quality can be tuned by polymer concentration, suspension pH, and the length of polymer chains. Interpolymer complexation to assemble nanoparticles is scalable, inexpensive, versatile, and general.