title: Shape-controlled synthesis of hybrid nanomaterials via three-dimensional hydrodynamic focusing.
abstract: Shape-controlled synthesis of nanomaterials through a simple, continuous, and low-cost method is essential to nanomaterials research toward practical applications. Hydrodynamic focusing, with its advantages of simplicity, low-cost, and precise control over reaction conditions, has been used for nanomaterial synthesis. While most studies have focused on improving the uniformity and size control, few have addressed the potential of tuning the shape of the synthesized nanomaterials. Here we demonstrate a facile method to synthesize hybrid materials by three-dimensional hydrodynamic focusing (3D-HF). While keeping the flow rates of the reagents constant and changing only the flow rate of the buffer solution, the molar ratio of two reactants (i.e., tetrathiafulvalene (TTF) and HAuCl4) within the reaction zone varies. The synthesized TTF-Au hybrid materials possess very different and predictable morphologies. The reaction conditions at different buffer flow rates are studied through computational simulation, and the formation mechanisms of different structures are discussed. This simple one-step method to achieve continuous shape-tunable synthesis highlights the potential of 3D-HF in nanomaterials research.
authors.affiliation: Department of Engineering Science and Mechanics, The Pennsylvania State University , University Park, Pennsylvania 16802, United States.
authors.forename: Mengqian
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Lu
authors.forename: Shikuan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.forename: Yi-Ping
authors.initials: YP
authors.lastname: Ho
authors.forename: Christopher L
authors.initials: CL
authors.lastname: Grigsby
authors.forename: Kam W
authors.initials: KW
authors.lastname: Leong
authors.forename: Tony Jun
authors.initials: TJ
authors.lastname: Huang
mesh_terms: D057446:Hydrodynamics; D008855:Microscopy, Electron, Scanning; D049329:Nanostructures
keywords: 3D hydrodynamic focusing; organic−metal hybrid materials; shape-controlled synthesis