title: Chemical nano-gardens: growth of salt nanowires from supramolecular self-assembly gels.
abstract: In this article, we examine the phenomenon of single-crystal halide salt wire growth at the surface of porous materials. We report the use of a single-step casting technique with a supramolecular self-assembly gel matrix that upon drying leads to the growth of single-crystal halide (e.g., NaCl, KCl, and KI) nanowires with diameters ~130-200 nm. We demonstrate their formation using electron microscopy and electron-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy, showing that the supramolecular gel stabilizes the growth of these wires by facilitating a diffusion-driven base growth mechanism. Critically, we show that standard non-supramolecular gels are unable to facilitate nanowire growth. We further show that these nanowires can be grown by seeding, forming nanocrystal gardens. This study helps understand the possible prefunctionalization of membranes to stimulate ion-specific filters or salt efflorescence suppressors, while also providing a novel route to nanomaterial growth.
authors.affiliation: School of Chemistry and Centre for Research on Adaptive Nanostructures and Nanodevices (CRANN), University of Dublin, Trinity College Dublin, Dublin 2, Ireland.
authors.forename: Ronan
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Daly
authors.forename: Oxana
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Kotova
authors.forename: Markus
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Boese
authors.forename: Thorfinnur
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Gunnlaugsson
authors.forename: John J
authors.initials: JJ
authors.lastname: Boland
mesh_terms: D005063:Europium / Q000737:chemistry; D005782:Gels; D036103:Nanotechnology / Q000379:methods*; D053770:Nanowires / Q000737:chemistry*; D016062:Porosity; D012492:Salts / Q000737:chemistry*
chemical_list: D005782:Gels; D012492:Salts; D005063:Europium