Anisotropic Self-Assembly of Supramolecular Polymers and Plasmonic Nanoparticles at the Liquid–Liquid Interface

Abstract

The study of supramolecular polymers in the bulk, in diluted solution, and at the solid–liquid interface has recently become a major topic of interest, going from fundamental aspects to applications in materials science. However, examples of supramolecular polymers at the liquid–liquid interface are mostly unexplored. Here, we describe the supramolecular polymerization of triarylamine molecules and their light-triggered organization at a chloroform–water interface. The resulting interfacial nematic layer of these 1D supramolecular polymers is further used as a template for the precise alignment of spherical gold nanoparticles coming from the water phase. These hybrid thin films are spontaneously formed in a single process, without chemical prefunctionalization of the metallic nanoparticles, and their ordering is improved by centrifugation. The resulting polymer chains and strings of nanoparticles can be co-aligned with high anisotropy over very large distances. By using a combination of experimental and theoretical investigations, we decipher the full sequence of this oriented self-assembly process. In such a highly anisotropic configuration, electron energy loss spectroscopy reveals that the self-assembled nanoparticles behave as plasmonic waveguides.

Temperature Control of Sequential Nucleation–Growth Mechanisms in Hierarchical Supramolecular Polymers

“…[32] They were recently shownt op resent helical stacked structures with ap ossible hierarchical bundling of their primary fibrils up to the formation of organogels. [33,34] From af unctional point of view,t his new family of supramolecular polymers [35][36][37][38] presentsu nusuale lectronic, [39][40][41] photonic, [42] and plasmonicp roperties. [43,44] In addition, TATAbased supramolecular polymers display high cooperativity in the expression of their chirality at the level of the single fibrils.…”

Anisotropic Au-ZnO photocatalyst for the visible-light expanded oxidation of n-hexane

“…In order to experimentally correlate the optical response of the plasmonic Au nanostructures at the interface with ZnO with the absorption properties at the local level (subnanometer scale), a spatially-resolved (SR) high-resolution electron energy loss spectroscopic (EELS) study was carried out [74][75][76][77][78]. Figure 2a shows the (HAADF)-STEM image of one of these Au-ZnO nanospecimens.…”

Self‐Assembly of Nanoparticles in 2D and 3D: Recent Advances and Future Trends

“…The spherical gold nanoparticles from an aqueous dispersion could be precisely aligned in a template formed through the supramolecular polymerization of triarylamine and their light‐triggered organization that forms nematic layer at chloroform‐water interface. The finally formed polymeric chains and strings of nanoparticles can be co‐aligned over large distances that can behave as plasmonic waveguides …”