Evaporation-induced self-assembly of gold nanoparticles into a highly organized two-dimensional array

Abstract

This paper provides a convenient and simple method for fabricating a self-organized two-dimensional (2D) array of gold nanoparticles on a silicon substrate. The silicon substrate, modified with an aminopropyltriethoxylsilane(APTES) monolayer, was first exposed to a gold colloidal suspension to deposit the gold particles and form a submonolayer of gold nanoparticles. This was followed by treatment with an alkanethiol solution, and then this randomly scattered submonolayer of nanosized gold particles on the silicon substrate was organized into small patches of 2D nanoparticle aggregates. Finally an alcohol solvent was used to drive these small patches of gold nanoparticle aggregates to self-organize together and form continuous ordered arrays on the silicon surface. The SEM images of the samples show that ordered two-dimensional arrays of gold nanoparticles are formed over a very large area and that the nanoparticles are highly organized and formed hexagonally closed packed structured arrays. This highly organized structure of gold nanoparticles can be reproduced over a large area by these effective procedures. Therefore, it is believed such procedures hold promise as an advanced new approach to construct ordered mesoscopic structural materials or for the controlled self-assembly of nanoparticles and could provide the possibility of detecting the collective physical properties of the ensemble.

Electrostatic Attachment of Gold and Poly(lactic acid) Nanoparticles onto ω‐Aminoalkanoic Acid Self‐Assembled Monolayers on 316L Stainless Steel

“…[31][32][33] However, most of these studies involved metal-nanoparticle assemblies. [35][36] In this paper we describe the formation and characterization of PLA nanoparticles that are assembled on surfacemodified 316L stainless steel through electrostatic interactions. The strategy involved a simple two-step process.…”

Self-assembled nanoparticle arrays for multiphase trace analyte detection

“…To avoid assembly at the solid interface, which generally requires chemical treatment prior to assembly 29 , NP films formed at the interface between two immiscible phases, such as a liquid-liquid interface (LLI) or liquid-air interface (LAI), can be used 30,31 . The interfacial tension between such phases is reduced by the adsorption of NPs 32 which ultimately stabilizes the assembly 33,34 .…”

Molecular dynamics simulations of evaporation-induced nanoparticle assembly

“…1,[3][4][5] This technique has been used to assemble NPs into desired structures such as nanoclusters, rings, wires, stripes, films, and superlattices. 2,[6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18] The factors that influence the assembled structure include the evaporation kinetics of the solvent, the flow properties and concentration of NPs in the solution, the NP-NP interactions, the interactions between NPs and the liquid/vapor interface, and the wetting/dewetting behavior of the suspension on the solid surface. 15 One ubiquitous example is the "coffee-ring" stain left behind after a particle-laden drop has evaporated.…”