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Updated: Jul 31, 2026

Using Polystyrene-block-poly(acrylic acid)-coated Metal Nanoparticles as Monomers for Their Homo- and Co-polymerization
Published on: July 9, 2015
Synthesis, self-assembly, and switching of one-dimensional nanostructures from new crowded aromatics
Mark L Bushey1, Thuc-Quyen Nguyen, Colin Nuckolls
1Department of Chemistry, Columbia University, New York, NY 10027, USA.
Abstract:
This study outlines a versatile and expeditious synthesis of the first derivatives of a new class of benzene that is substituted with both three amide and three alkyne substituents. Sparsely covered monolayer films, made through spin-casting, reveal one-dimensional nanostructures that can be visualized with atomic force microscopy. In bulk, synchrotron X-ray diffraction and polarized light microscopy show that these nanostructured columns assemble further into a two-dimensional liquid crystalline phase. The birefringence of this phase can be switched by application of an electric field. The half-time for the liquid crystalline phase to switch is very fast and proportional to the applied voltage.
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