Blossoming of nanosheet structures via a disturbed self-assembly

Nano Lett. 2014 Jun 11;14(6):3474-80. doi: 10.1021/nl501002f. Epub 2014 May 9.

Abstract

Nanofabrication has been critical in all kinds of nanotechnology, not only for achieving various nanostructures or nanosystems but also for the application of the nanotechnology. To achieve controllable but simple nanofabrication is one of the central aspirations for many research communities; here, for the first time, we report the growth of nanosheet structures simply by introducing internal disturbances (adding nanoparticles and surface tension) or external disturbances (deformations) to the self-assembly of copolymers induced by evaporation. Nanoparticles, curved surface, and deformations by such as writing or extension have been employed to demonstrate the sensitivity of the nanosheet structures to various disturbances. Finally, a physical model has been proposed to explain how the disturbances contribute to the formation of the nanosheet structures. These significant results indicate a scalable, writable, cost-effective and environmentally friendly nanotechnology that will stimulate new nanofabrication research.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't