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Updated: Apr 22, 2026
Using Polystyrene-block-polyacrylic acid-coated Metal Nanoparticles as Monomers for Their Homo- and Co-polymerization
Published on: July 9, 2015
Thermally reversible self-assembly of nanoparticles via polymer crystallization
Calum Kinnear1, Sandor Balog, Barbara Rothen-Rutishauser
1Adolphe Merkle Institute, University of Fribourg, Chemin des Verdiers 4, Fribourg, 1700, Switzerland; Department of Chemistry, University of Fribourg, Chemin du Musée 9, Fribourg, 1700, Switzerland.
Abstract:
The directed self-assembly of gold nanoparticles through the crystallization of surface-grafted polyethylene oxide (PEO) in ethanol-water mixtures is described. This process is fully reversible and tunable through either the size of the core or the polymeric coating. Characterization by X-ray scattering and electron microscopy of the self-assembled structures reveals order at the nanoscale, typically not the case for thermoresponsive gold nanoparticles coated with lower or upper critical solution temperature polymers. A further novelty is the result of selective binding of calcium ions to the PEO in the fluid state: a reversible thermoresponsive transition become irreversible.
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