Anisotropic particles assemble to spontaneously form columnar arrays. Hybrid nanotube/nanowire particles (silica nanotubes partially filled with metallic cores) deposit with their denser metallic ends towards the surface, orienting them vertically. Up to 84% are observed to be standing over a 0.64 cm2 area within 15 min. Standing percentage is found to be dependent on particle surface concentration.

Chronic kidney disease stage III or greater will develop postoperatively in approximately a third of patients with an estimated glomerular filtration rate greater than 60 ml/minute/1.73 m(2), and this progression is associated with definable demographic, tumor and surgical factors.

The force induced on anisotropic nanoparticles in a nonuniform electric field can be used to attract, orient, and position the nanoparticles with respect to microelectrodes on a surface. For polarizable nanomaterials, such as nanowires, carbon nanotubes, or graphene sheets suspended in solvent, this dielectrophoretic force results in movement to regions of highest electric field strength. This review discusses the origin of this force, its production by different microelectrode designs, and its use for nanomaterials assembly, with a focus on efforts toward heterogeneous integration with on-chip electronics for single-particle characterization and device structures.

Columnar arrays of anisotropic nano- and microparticles, in which the long axes of the particles are oriented perpendicular to the substrate, are of interest for photovoltaics and other applications. Array assembly typically requires applied electric or magnetic fields and/or controlled drying, which are challenging over large areas. Here, we describe a scalable approach to self-assemble multicomponent nanowires into columnar arrays. Self-assembly of partially etched nanowires (PENs) occurred spontaneously during sedimentation from suspension, without drying or applied fields. PENs, which have segments that are either gold or "empty" (solvent-filled) surrounded by a silica shell, were produced from striped metal nanowires by first coating with silica and then removing sacrificial segments by acid etching. Electrostatic repulsion between the particles was necessary for array assembly; however, details of PEN surface chemistry were relatively unimportant. The aspect ratio and relative center of mass (COM) of the PENs were important for determining whether the PEN long axes were vertically or horizontally aligned with respect to the underlying substrate. Arrays with predominantly vertically aligned particles were achieved for PENs with a large offset in COM relative to the geometric center, while other types of PENs formed horizontal arrays. Assemblies were formed over >10 cm(2) areas, with over 60% of particles standing. We assessed array uniformity and reproducibility by imaging many positions within each sample and performing multiple assemblies of differently segmented PENs. This work demonstrates the versatility of gravity-driven PEN array assembly and provides a framework for designing other anisotropic particle systems that self-assemble into columnar arrays.

We investigated the ordering of gold nanowires that settled from aqueous suspension onto a glass substrate due to gravity. The nanowires, ca. 300 nm in cross-sectional diameter and ca. 2, 4, or 7 microns in length, were coated with 2-mercaptoethanesulfonic acid to provide electrostatic repulsion and prevent aggregation. The layer of nanowires in direct contact with the substrate was examined from below using optical microscopy and found to exhibit smectic-like ordering. The extent of smectic ordering depended on nanowire length with the shortest (2 μm) nanowires exhibiting the best ordering. To understand the assembly in this system, we used canonical Monte Carlo simulations to model the two-dimensional ordering of the nanowires on a substrate. We accounted for van der Waals and electrostatic interactions between the nanowires. The simulations reproduced the experimental trends and showed that roughness at the ends of the nanowires, which locally increased electrostatic repulsion, is critical to correctly predicting the experimentally observed smectic ordering.