Surfactant-Induced Mesoscopic Assemblies of Inorganic Molecular Chains

A disassembly–reassemblyapproach is used here in the self-organization of [Mo3Se3–]∞ chains—possible molecular wires. Either lamellar or hexagonal mesostructures (see Figure) are formed in the presence of oppositely charged surfactants and the spacing between these inorganic chains can be varied (20–40 Å) by using surfactants with different alkane lengths.