End-to-end alignment of nanorods in thin films
Kari Thorkelsson1, James H Nelson, A Paul Alivisatos
1Department of Materials Science and Engineering and ‡Department of Chemistry, University of California , Berkeley, California, United States.
Abstract:
A simple approach to obtain end-to-end assemblies of nanorods over macroscopic distances in thin films is described. Nanorods with aspect ratio of 8-12 can be aligned parallel to the surface in an end-to-end fashion by imposing geometric confinement via block copolymer-based supramolecular assemblies. Successful control over the orientation and location of nanorods requires a balance of particle-particle interactions and entropy associated with geometric confinement from the supramolecular framework, as well as consideration of the kinetics of assembly.
