Trioctylphosphine as self-assembly inducer

Nickel nanoparticles (NPs) of different shapes and sizes in polydispersed as well as monodispersed forms were synthesized using trioctylphosphine (TOP), triphenylphosphine (TPP), oleylamine (OA) and their combinations as surfactants to study their self-assembly inducing capabilities. Randomly agglomerated polydispersed NPs were found for TPP and OA, and TPP or OA separately. However, in consolidation with the earlier report of Singh et al., J. Mater. Chem. C, 2014, 2, 8918, NPs formed using TOP only and a combination of TOP with OA naturally exhibited monodispersed NPs associated with natural nanolattice formation without any other external force or surfactants, demonstrating clearly the self-inducing capacity of TOP into monodispersed NPs and their self-assembled nanolattices. Fourier-transformed infra-red (FTIR) data clearly indicated the capping of these surfactants along with acetylacetonate ligands from nickel acetylacetonate precursor on the surface of the NPs. Remarkably, the narrowest zeta potential (ζ) base-widths were observed for samples possessing a self-assembled nanolattice, compared to the broader ones for randomly agglomerated particles.