Colloidal Binary Supracrystals with Tunable Structural Lattices

Colloidal binary supracrystals (SCs) possessing tunable and ordered assembly of two different types of functional nanoparticles (NPs) represent a unique class of artificial materials for both fundamental study and technological applications, but related study has been limited due to substantial challenges in materials growth. Here we report the controlled growth of colloidal binary SCs consisting of Au and Fe₃O₄ NPs via an oil-in-water emulsion process. The size, stoichiometry, and lattice structure of the SCs can be broadly tuned by the growth parameters. Furthermore, our growth method is general and applicable to other NP building blocks to achieve various functional binary SCs. These as-grown free-standing binary SCs should therefore enable new test beds for exploring different nanoscale interactions ranging from the formation and stability of nanoscale binary phase to the emerging magneto-plasmonic coupling physics.