title: Structural evolution and mechanical behaviour of Pt nanoparticle superlattices at high pressure.
abstract: High pressure is an effective means for tuning the interparticle distances of nanoparticle (NP) superlattices and thus for modifying their physical properties and functionalities. In this work, we determined the evolution of inter-NP distances of a Pt NP superlattice with increasing pressure using an in situ synchrotron small-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS) technique in a diamond-anvil cell (DAC). Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) was used to characterize the microstructures of pre- and post-compression samples. Our results demonstrate that the evolution of Pt NP assemblies with increasing pressure consists of four stages: (1) ligand elastic response, (2) uniform compression, (3) ligand detachment from NP surfaces, and (4) deviatoric compression of ligands between neighboring NPs. By controlling the magnitudes of applied pressure and deviatoric stress, one can sinter NPs into novel architectures such as nanowires and nanoceramics.
authors.affiliation: Department of Physics and Astronomy, the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, Nevada 89154, USA. jlzhu04@physics.unlv.edu.
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Zhu
authors.affiliation: Earth and Environmental Sciences Division, Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, New Mexico 87545, USA. hxu@lanl.gov.
authors.forename: Z
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Quan
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry, State University of New York at Binghamton, Binghamton, New York 13902, USA. jfang@binghamton.edu.
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Institute of Coal Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Science, Taiyuan, Shanxi 030001, China.
authors.forename: X
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Wen
authors.affiliation: TEM Laboratory, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, New Mexico 87131, USA.
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Jiang
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry, State University of New York at Binghamton, Binghamton, New York 13902, USA. jfang@binghamton.edu.
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Fang
authors.affiliation: Cornell High Energy Synchrotron Source, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York 14853, USA.
authors.forename: Z
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Department of Physics and Astronomy, the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, Nevada 89154, USA. jlzhu04@physics.unlv.edu.
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Zhao
authors.affiliation: Earth and Environmental Sciences Division, Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, New Mexico 87545, USA. hxu@lanl.gov.
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Xu