title: Self-assembled structure of nanoparticles at a liquid-liquid interface.
abstract: Pickering emulsions are used as a template to investigate the multiphase interactions and self-assembled structure of nanoparticles at a trichloroethylene-water interface. The dodecanethiol-capped silver nanoparticles of 1-5 nm form randomly distributed multilayers at the liquid/liquid interface, with an interparticle distance varying from close contact to approximately 25 nm. This report offers the first direct observation of nanoparticles in a liquid medium using the environmental transmission electron microscope, as well as the first work revealing the detailed self-assembled structure of nanoparticles at a liquid/liquid interface when the size of the nanoparticles is comparable to the molecular dimension of the liquids.
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemical Engineering, Texas Tech University, Lubbock, Texas 79409, USA.
authors.forename: Lenore L
authors.initials: LL
authors.lastname: Dai
authors.forename: Renu
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Sharma
authors.forename: Chih-yuan
authors.initials: CY
authors.lastname: Wu
mesh_terms: D004655:Emulsions / Q000737:chemistry; D049329:Nanostructures / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000648:ultrastructure*; D014867:Water / Q000737:chemistry
chemical_list: D004655:Emulsions; D014867:Water