title: Novel polymer-free iridescent lamellar hydrogel for two-dimensional confined growth of ultrathin gold membranes.
abstract: Hydrogels are generally thought to be formed by nano- to micrometre-scale fibres or polymer chains, either physically branched or entangled with each other to trap water. Although there are also anisotropic hydrogels with apparently ordered structures, they are essentially polymer fibre/discrete polymer chains-based network without exception. Here we present a type of polymer-free anisotropic lamellar hydrogels composed of 100-nm-thick water layers sandwiched by two bilayer membranes of a self-assembled nonionic surfactant, hexadecylglyceryl maleate. The hydrogels appear iridescent as a result of Bragg's reflection of visible light from the periodic lamellar plane. The particular lamellar hydrogel with extremely wide water spacing was used as a soft two-dimensional template to synthesize single-crystalline nanosheets in the confined two-dimensional space. As a consequence, flexible, ultrathin and large area single-crystalline gold membranes with atomically flat surface were produced in the hydrogel. The optical and electrical properties were detected on a single gold membrane.
authors: 1] i-LAB and Nano-Bionics Division, Suzhou Institute of Nano-Tech & Nano-Bionics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Suzhou 215123, China [2].
authors: Jian
authors: J
authors: Niu
authors: 1] i-LAB and Nano-Bionics Division, Suzhou Institute of Nano-Tech & Nano-Bionics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Suzhou 215123, China [2].
authors: Dong
authors: D
authors: Wang
authors: i-LAB and Nano-Bionics Division, Suzhou Institute of Nano-Tech & Nano-Bionics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Suzhou 215123, China.
authors: Haili
authors: H
authors: Qin
authors: i-LAB and Nano-Bionics Division, Suzhou Institute of Nano-Tech & Nano-Bionics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Suzhou 215123, China.
authors: Xiong
authors: X
authors: Xiong
authors: Institute of Functional Nano & Soft Materials (FUNSOM) and Collaborative Innovation Center of Suzhou Nano Science and Technology, Soochow University, Suzhou 215123, China.
authors: Pengli
authors: P
authors: Tan
authors: Institute of Functional Nano & Soft Materials (FUNSOM) and Collaborative Innovation Center of Suzhou Nano Science and Technology, Soochow University, Suzhou 215123, China.
authors: Youyong
authors: Y
authors: Li
authors: i-LAB and Nano-Bionics Division, Suzhou Institute of Nano-Tech & Nano-Bionics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Suzhou 215123, China.
authors: Rui
authors: R
authors: Liu
authors: i-LAB and Nano-Bionics Division, Suzhou Institute of Nano-Tech & Nano-Bionics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Suzhou 215123, China.
authors: Xuxing
authors: X
authors: Lu
authors: i-LAB and Nano-Bionics Division, Suzhou Institute of Nano-Tech & Nano-Bionics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Suzhou 215123, China.
authors: Jian
authors: J
authors: Wu
authors: i-LAB and Nano-Bionics Division, Suzhou Institute of Nano-Tech & Nano-Bionics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Suzhou 215123, China.
authors: Ting
authors: T
authors: Zhang
authors: i-LAB and Nano-Bionics Division, Suzhou Institute of Nano-Tech & Nano-Bionics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Suzhou 215123, China.
authors: Weihai
authors: W
authors: Ni
authors: i-LAB and Nano-Bionics Division, Suzhou Institute of Nano-Tech & Nano-Bionics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Suzhou 215123, China.
authors: Jian
authors: J
authors: Jin