Coerced Mechanical Coarsening of Nanoparticle Assemblies

Blunt, MO; Martin, CP; Ahola-Tuomi, M; Pauliac-Vaujour, E; Sharp, Peter; Nativo, P; Brust, M; Nativo, P

Abstract

Coarsening is a ubiquitous phenomenon [1-3] that underpins countless processes in nature, including epitaxial growth [1,3,4], the phase separation of alloys, polymers and binary fluids [2], the growth of bubbles in foams5, and pattern formation in biomembranes6. Here we show, in the first real-time experimental study of the evolution of an adsorbed colloidal nanoparticle array, that tapping-mode atomic force microscopy (TM-AFM) can drive the coarsening of Au nanoparticle assemblies on silicon surfaces. Although the growth exponent has a strong dependence on the initial sample morphology, our observations are largely consistent with modified Ostwald ripening processes [7-9]. To date, ripening processes have been exclusively considered to be thermally activated, but we show that nanoparticle assemblies can be mechanically coerced towards equilibrium, representing a new approach to directed coarsening. This strategy enables precise control over the evolution of micro- and nanostructures.

Citation

Blunt, M., Martin, C., Ahola-Tuomi, M., Pauliac-Vaujour, E., Sharp, P., Nativo, P., …Nativo, P. (2007). Coerced Mechanical Coarsening of Nanoparticle Assemblies. Nature Nanotechnology, 2, https://doi.org/10.1038/nnano.2007.25

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Publication Date: Mar 1, 2007
• Deposit Date: May 19, 2008
• Publicly Available Date: May 19, 2008
• Journal: Nature Nanotechnology
• Print ISSN: 1748-3387
• Publisher: Nature Publishing Group
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 2
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nnano.2007.25
• Keywords: nanoparticles; self-assembly; self-organisation; coarsening; ripening; growth
• Public URL: https://nottingham-repository.worktribe.com/output/1016917
• Publisher URL: http://www.nature.com/nnano/journal/v2/n3/abs/nnano.2007.25.html
• Related Public URLs: http://www.nottingham.ac.uk/physics/research/nano