Light Scattering Strategy for the Investigation of Time-Evolving Heterogeneous Supramolecular Self-Assemblies

Supramolecular self-assembly is a multiple length-scale and time-dependent process involving many coexisting components. Such complexity requires suitable strategies to extract quantitative dynamical and structural information on all involved species. Here, we detail an original light scattering method to study the kinetics of tailored triarylamine molecules capable of self-assembling in supramolecular highly conductive nanowires upon light exposure. These micrometric assemblies cause the emergence of intermittences in the scattered intensity and the construction of a predominant slow mode in the correlation function making separation between small-and large-size species impossible using conventional treatments. Our strategy is based on the time monitoring of intermittences and allows us to determine the fraction of nanowires as well as those of small critical nuclei and triarylamine building blocks as a function of time and light exposure, in good agreement with recent theoretical predictions.