Hierarchical nanoparticle ensembles synthesized by liquid phase directed self-assembly

Nano Lett. 2014 Feb 12;14(2):774-82. doi: 10.1021/nl404128d. Epub 2014 Jan 3.

Abstract

A liquid metal filament supported on a dielectric substrate was directed to fragment into an ordered, mesoscale particle ensemble. Imposing an undulated surface perturbation on the filament forced the development of a single unstable mode from the otherwise disperse, multimodal Rayleigh-Plateau instability. The imposed mode paved the way for a hierarchical spatial fragmentation of the filament into particles, previously seen only at much larger scales. Ultimately, nanoparticle radius control is demonstrated using a micrometer scale switch.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
  • Research Support, U.S. Gov't, Non-P.H.S.