Volume 143, 2009

Free-standing porous supramolecular assemblies of nanoparticles made using a double-templating strategy

Abstract

The formation of stable and ordered free-standing porous supramolecular assemblies of nanoparticles with sizes and geometries controlled at different length scales is demonstrated by a double-templating strategy. Our technique combines the directed assembly of particles, templating using nanoimprint lithography (NIL), and supramolecular layer-by-layer (LbL) assembly. First, 500-nm β-cyclodextrin (CD)-functionalized polystyrene (PS) particles were assembled by convective assembly onto a sacrificial polymer template patterned with a predefined geometry and size using NIL, forming a 3D crystal architecture of particles. LbL assembly of alternating supramolecular host- and guest-functionalized glues of CD-functionalized Au (Au-CD) nanoparticles and adamantyl (Ad) dendrimers, sized between 3–5 nm, within the preformed PS-particle crystal effectively bound the particles together into a particle composite. These particle composites were released from the substrate together with the polymer template, and transferred onto a target substrate. The particle crystal integrity, order and functionality were preserved. Rinsing the structure with dichloromethane removed the PS core material together with the polymer template, resulting in interconnected porous capsules, the sizes and shapes of which are fully determined by the PS core size and the polymer template definition. Again, integrity and shape were preserved in the rinsing step. These capsules were capable of storing organic fluorescent molecules using specific interactions.

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
10 Dec 2008
Accepted
09 Mar 2009
First published
30 Jun 2009

Faraday Discuss., 2009,143, 117-127

Free-standing porous supramolecular assemblies of nanoparticles made using a double-templating strategy

X. Y. Ling, I. Y. Phang, D. N. Reinhoudt, G. J. Vancso and J. Huskens, Faraday Discuss., 2009, 143, 117 DOI: 10.1039/B822156A

To request permission to reproduce material from this article, please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

If you are an author contributing to an RSC publication, you do not need to request permission provided correct acknowledgement is given.

If you are the author of this article, you do not need to request permission to reproduce figures and diagrams provided correct acknowledgement is given. If you want to reproduce the whole article in a third-party publication (excluding your thesis/dissertation for which permission is not required) please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

Read more about how to correctly acknowledge RSC content.

Social activity

Spotlight

Advertisements