Hard-disk behavior and beyond in Langmuir films of CdSe nanoparticles

Harnessing the spontaneous behavior of a population of particles is an attractive approach to the fabrication of targeted nanostructures. Underlying this goal is the interparticle potential, as it dictates the spontaneous behavior of the system. To this end, we present methodology for using quantitative film balance studies of trioctylphosphine oxide (TOPO) stabilized CdSe nanoparticles to determine their effective interparticle potential on the air-water interface. A simple protocol for reducing the quantity of excess TOPO to negligible levels of surface activity is established. In studying clean populations of 2.08, 2.22, 2.36, 2.49, 2.63, and 2.91 nm nanoparticles, quantitative agreement between their pressure-area isotherms and the Carnahan-Starling hard-disk equation of state is achieved. This analysis indicates that CdSe nanoparticles of a given diameter behave how hard disks with significantly smaller diameters would behave. This finding suggests that an attractive contribution to the interparticle potential, such as the dipolar potential, plays a significant role in the spontaneous organization of these particles.