Ordered Assembling of Size and Shape Selected Nanocrystals

Abstract Nanoparticles and the physical and chemical functional specificity and selectivity they possess, suggest them as ideal building blocks for two- and three-dimensional cluster self-assembled superlattice structures, in which the particles behave as well-defined molecular matter and they are arranged with long-range translation and even orientation order [1]. Self-assembled arrays involve self-organization into monolayers, thin films, and superlattices of size-selected nanoclusters encapsulated in protective compact organic coating. The macroscopic properties of the nanocrystal superlattice (NCS) are determined not only by the properties of each individual particle but by the coupling/interaction between nanocrystals interconnected and isolated by a monolayer of thin organic molecules. Periodic packing of nanocrystals is different from the 3-D packing of atoms. First, to an excellent approximation atoms are spherical, while nanoparticles can be faceted polyhedra, thus, the 3-D packing of particles can be critically affected by their shapes and sizes.