Applied Surface Science (2025), 690, 162556
DOI: 10.7910/DVN/FBGVXD
The ability to fine-tune the electromagnetic properties of metal colloidal nanoparticles would allow for the development of advanced materials and devices with unique chemical and optical capabilities. Using grazing-incidence small-angle x-ray scattering and x-ray reflectivity at NSF’s ChemMatCARS, researchers from the Vaknin group at Iowa State University demonstrated that polyethylene grafted silver and gold nanoparticles form highly stable hexagonal structures at the vapor-liquid interface. They identify a critical grafting density that marks a threshold between highly ordered and poorly ordered nanoparticle structures, showing that the structural properties can be directly controlled.
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0169433225002703?via%3Dihub
Binay P. Nayak1, James Ethan Batey2,3, Hyeong Jin Kim1, Wenjie Wang2, Wei Bu4, Honghu Zhang5,6, Surya K. Mallapragada1,∗, David Vaknin7,∗
1 Ames National Laboratory, and Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, Iowa State University, Ames, IA 50011, United States
2 Division of Materials Sciences and Engineering, Ames National Laboratory, U.S. DOE, Ames, IA 50011, United States
3 Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, AR 72701, United States
4 NSF’s ChemMatCARS, Pritzker School of Molecular Engineering, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL 60637, United States
5 Center for Functional Nanomaterials, Brookhaven National Laboratory, Upton, NY 11973, United States
6 National Synchrotron Light Source II, Brookhaven National Laboratory, Upton, NY 11973, United States
7 Ames National Laboratory, and Department of Physics and Astronomy, Iowa State University, Ames, IA 50011, United States