Controlling Orientational and Translational Order of Iron Oxide Nanocubes by Assembly in Nanofluidic Containers.
We demonstrate that spatial confinement can be used to control the orientational and translational order of cubic nanoparticles. For this purpose we have combined X-ray scattering and scanning electron microscopy to study the ordering of iron oxide nanocubes that have self-assembled from toluene-based dispersions in nanofluidic channels. An analysis of scattering vector components with directions parallel and perpendicular to the slit walls shows that the confining walls induce a preferential parallel alignment of the nanocube (100) faces. Moreover, slit wall separations that are commensurate with an integer multiple of the edge length of the oleic acid-capped nanocubes result in a more pronounced translational order of the self-assembled arrays compared to incommensurate confinement. These results show that the confined assembly of anisotropic nanocrystals is a promising route to nanoscale devices with tunable anisotropic properties.
Department of Materials and Environmental Chemistry, Stockholm University , SE-10691 Stockholm, Sweden.
Michael
M
Agthe
Department of Chemistry and Molecular Biology, University of Gothenburg , SE-41296 Gothenburg, Sweden.|Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Norwegian University of Science and Technology , NO-7491 Trondheim, Norway.
Kristin
K
Høydalsvik
Department of Materials and Environmental Chemistry, Stockholm University , SE-10691 Stockholm, Sweden.
Arnaud
A
Mayence
Institute of Photonics, University of Eastern Finland , FI-80100 Joensuu, Finland.|Finnlitho Ltd, FI-80140 Joensuu, Finland.
Petri
P
Karvinen
Paul Scherrer Institut, CH-5232 Villigen PSI, Switzerland.
Marianne
M
Liebi
Department of Materials and Environmental Chemistry, Stockholm University , SE-10691 Stockholm, Sweden.
Lennart
L
Bergström
Department of Chemistry and Molecular Biology, University of Gothenburg , SE-41296 Gothenburg, Sweden.
Kim
K
Nygård