Pressure-stimulated supercrystals formation in nanoparticle suspensions

DOI: 10.1021/acs.jpclett.8b02145

Authors: Martin A. Schroer (European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL)) , Felix Lehmkühler (Deutsches Elektronen-Synchrotron (DESY); The Hamburg Centre for Ultrafast Imaging (CUI)) , Johannes Moeller (European X-Ray Free-Electron Laser Facility (XFEL)) , Holger Lange (The Hamburg Centre for Ultrafast Imaging (CUI); University of Hamburg) , Gerhard Grübel (Deutsches Elektronen-Synchrotron (DESY); The Hamburg Centre for Ultrafast Imaging (CUI)) , Florian Schulz (The Hamburg Centre for Ultrafast Imaging (CUI); University of Hamburg)
Co-authored by industrial partner: No

Type: Journal Paper
Journal: The Journal Of Physical Chemistry Letters

State: Published (Approved)
Published: August 2018
Diamond Proposal Number(s): 16193

Abstract: Nanoparticles can self-organize into "supercrystals" with many potential applications. Different paths can lead to nanoparticle self-organization into such periodic arrangements. An essential step is the transition from an amorphous state to the crystalline one. In this manuscript we investigate how pressure can induce a phase-transition of a nanoparticle model system in water from the disordered liquid state to highly-ordered supercrystals. We observe a reversible pressure-induced supercrystals formation in concentrated solutions of gold nanoparticles by means of small angle X-ray scattering. The supercrystal formation occurs only at high salt concentrations in the aqueous solution. The pressure dependence of the structural parameters of the resulting crystal lattices is determined. The observed transition can be reasoned with the combined effect of salt and pressure on the solubility of the organic PEG-shell that passivates the nanoparticles.

Journal Keywords: Crystallization; high-pressure; Nanoparticle Suspensions; Phase transition; Small angle X-ray scattering

Subject Areas: Chemistry


Instruments: I22-Small angle scattering & Diffraction