"Nano-egg" superstructures of hydrophobic nanocrystals dispersed in water.

In this feature article, we use hydrophobic ferrite (FeO) nanocrystal shells filled with Au nanocrystals self-assembled into 3D superlattices and dispersed in water. These superstructures act as nano-heaters. The stability of such superstructures is very high, even for several years, when stored at room temperature.

Superstructures of water-dispersive hydrophobic nanocrystals: specific properties.

Here, we describe water-soluble superstructures of hydrophobic nanocrystals that have been developed in recent years. We will also report on some of their properties which are still in their infancy. One of these structures, called "cluster structures", consists of hydrophobic 3D superlattices of Co or Au nanocrystals, covered with organic molecules acting like parachutes.

Supraballs as spherical solid 3D superlattices of hydrophobic nanocrystals dispersed in water: nanoarchitectonics and properties.

Herein, we use a water-dispersive 3D suprastructure of ferrite (FeO) nanocrystals called supraballs. They are solid spherical assemblies of hydrophobic nanocrystals with a rather low Young's modulus compared to similar 3D superlattices deposited on a substrate. Using atomic force microscopy methods, their nanomechanical properties are measured, which show small flexibility and deformation.

Chemically-Controlled Ultrafast Photothermal Response in Plasmonic Nanostructured Assemblies.

Plasmonic nanoparticles are renowned as efficient heaters due to their capability to resonantly absorb and concentrate electromagnetic radiation, trigger excitation of highly energetic (hot) carriers, and locally convert their excess energy into heat via ultrafast nonradiative relaxation processes. Furthermore, in assembly configurations (i.e.

Anisotropic Assembly of Nanocrystal/Molecular Hierarchical Superlattices Decoding from Tris-Amide Triarylamines Supramolecular Networks.

Directed assembly of nanocrystals from conventional templates suffers from poor control over the periodicity of the nanocrystal assembly, which is largely due to the fact that the template exists prior to the assembly and is not generally adaptive. Herein, small organic molecules (tris-amide triarylamines, TATA) are demonstrated as conceptual templates from self-assembly through noncovalent interactions. The as-formed supramolecular structures with terminated alkyl chains, resembling the structure of as-synthesized nanocrystals capped with alkyl chains, are able to interact with nanocrystals through van der Waals attractive forces, thereby enabling directed assembly of nanocrystals into ordered superlattices.