Assembling Nanoparticle Arrays at Fluid Interfaces

为电子、传感器、太阳能电池和其他设备制造新材料的一条途径是将纳米颗粒组装成有序的结构。该项目将开发在液体和空气之间的界面上将纳米颗粒组装成二维单层的新方法。该项目将使用氧化铁纳米粒子和半导体纳米晶体，这些通常用于重要的技术应用。为了控制和调整组装过程，纳米颗粒将被涂上影响颗粒之间相互作用的化合物。化合物对颗粒单层形成的影响，单层内颗粒之间的距离，以及所得单层的特性将使用各种方法进行研究。该项目的方法是通用的，因此结果应该适用于在液体表面形成广泛的二维组件，然后可以转移到固体表面。由此产生的材料可用于涉及光和电导的技术。该项目将为所有学术水平的学生提供参与研究的机会，项目参与者将在哈莱姆STM博览会上为儿童和成人举办材料和工程演示。这个项目的目标是利用建模和新的实验方法的结合，使有序的二维纳米颗粒单层的合理设计，充分利用纳米颗粒的独特和可调特性。将探索一种利用可混相液体形成单层的新途径，以确定是否可以形成用标准方法无法获得的结构。用x射线衍射、吸收光谱和透射电子显微镜对其进行表征。纳米粒子核心的大小、多分散性和配体组成将被确定。实时显微镜将用于跟踪纳米颗粒在界面上形成单层的过程。由于纳米粒子的物理耦合可以与它们的电子耦合联系起来，因此将对制造结构进行电学和光学测量，并将其与制造过程的细节相关联。建模将用于检查纳米颗粒在界面上的有序演变以及周围液体蒸发时产生的结构的动力学和特性。最后，将开发将所得纳米颗粒层转移到固体基板上，同时监测单层性质的方法。

CBET - 1603043PI: Herman, Irving P.One route to making new materials for electronics, sensors, solar cells and other devices is to assemble nanoparticles into ordered structures. This project will develop new ways of assembling nanoparticles into two-dimensional monolayers at interfaces between liquid and air. The project will use iron oxide nanoparticles and semiconductor nanocrystals, which are often used in important technological applications. To control and tune the assembly process, the nanoparticles will be coated with chemical compounds that influence interactions among the particles. The effect of the compounds on the formation of a particle monolayer, the distances between particles within the monolayer, and characteristics of the resulting monolayer will be investigated using a variety of methods. The approaches in the project are general, so results should apply to the formation of a wide range of two-dimensional assemblies on liquid surfaces, which can then be transferred to solid surfaces. The resulting materials can be used in technologies involving light and electrical conduction. The project will provide opportunities for students at all academic levels to participate in research, and participants in the project will host materials and engineering demonstrations for children and adults in the Harlem STM Expo.This goal of this project is to use a combination of modeling and new experimental approaches to enable the rational design of ordered two-dimensional nanoparticle monolayers that takes full advantage of the unique and tunable properties of nanoparticles. A new route to monolayer formation using miscible liquids will be explored to determine if structures can be formed that cannot be obtained with standard methods. Nanoparticles capped with ligands will be synthesized and characterized by x-ray diffraction, absorption spectra and transmission electron microscopy. The size of the nanoparticle core, polydispersity, and ligand composition will be determined. Real time microscopy will be used to track the formation of the nanoparticles into monolayers at interfaces. Since physical coupling of nanoparticles can be linked to their electronic coupling, electrical and optical measurements of the fabricated structures will be conducted and correlated with details of the fabrication procedures. Modeling will be used to examine the evolution of nanoparticle ordering at interfaces and the dynamics and properties of the resulting structures as surrounding liquid evaporates. Finally, methods of transferring the resulting nanoparticle layer to a solid substrate, while monitoring monolayer properties, will be developed.