title: Role of Atomic Layer Functionalization in Building Scalable Bottom-Up Assembly of Ultra-Low Density Multifunctional Three-Dimensional Nanostructures.
abstract: Building three-dimensional (3D) structures from their constituent zero-, one-, and two-dimensional nanoscale building blocks in a bottom-up assembly is considered the holey grail of nanotechnology. However, fabricating such 3D nanostructures at ambient conditions still remains a challenge. Here, we demonstrate an easily scalable facile method to fabricate 3D nanostructures made up of entirely zero-dimensional silicon dioxide (SiO2) nanoparticles. By combining functional groups and vacuum filtration, we fabricate lightweight and highly structural stable 3D SiO2materials. Further synergistic effect of material is shown by addition of a 2D material, graphene oxide (GO) as reinforcement which results in 15-fold increase in stiffness. Molecular dynamics (MD) simulations are used to understand the interaction between silane functional groups (3-aminopropyl triethoxysilane) and SiO2nanoparticles thus confirming the reinforcement capability of GO. In addition, the material is stable under high temperature and offers a cost-effective alternative to both fire-retardant and oil absorption materials.
authors.affiliation: Department of Materials Science and NanoEngineering, Rice University , Houston, Texas 77005, United States.
authors.forename: Peter Samora
authors.initials: PS
authors.lastname: Owuor
authors.affiliation: Department of Materials Science and NanoEngineering, Rice University , Houston, Texas 77005, United States.
authors.forename: Thierry
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Tsafack
authors.affiliation: Department of Materials Science and NanoEngineering, Rice University , Houston, Texas 77005, United States.
authors.forename: Hye Yoon
authors.initials: HY
authors.lastname: Hwang
authors.affiliation: Department of Materials Science and NanoEngineering, Rice University , Houston, Texas 77005, United States.
authors.forename: Ok-Kyung
authors.initials: OK
authors.lastname: Park
authors.affiliation: Materials Physics and Application Divison, Los Alamos National Laboratory , Los Alamos, New Mexico 87545, United States.
authors.forename: Sehmus
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Ozden
authors.affiliation: Hysitron, Inc. , Minneapolis, Minnesota 55344, United States.
authors.forename: Sanjit
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Bhowmick
authors.affiliation: Hysitron, Inc. , Minneapolis, Minnesota 55344, United States.
authors.forename: Syed Asif
authors.initials: SA
authors.lastname: Syed Amanulla
authors.affiliation: Department of Materials Science and NanoEngineering, Rice University , Houston, Texas 77005, United States.
authors.forename: Robert
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Vajtai
authors.affiliation: Department of Materials Science and NanoEngineering, Rice University , Houston, Texas 77005, United States.
authors.forename: Jun
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Lou
authors.affiliation: Department of Materials Science and NanoEngineering, Rice University , Houston, Texas 77005, United States.
authors.forename: Chandra Sekhar
authors.identifier: 0000-0001-9760-9768
authors.initials: CS
authors.lastname: Tiwary
authors.affiliation: Department of Materials Science and NanoEngineering, Rice University , Houston, Texas 77005, United States.
authors.forename: Pulickel M
authors.initials: PM
authors.lastname: Ajayan
keywords: functionalization; graphene oxide (GO); molecular dynamics; silanes; silicon dioxide (SiO2); stiffness