Chemospecific Heterostructure and Heteromaterial Assembly of Metal-Organic Framework Nanoparticles.

Nanoparticles of highly porous metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) are some of the most exciting nanomaterials under development, with potential applications that range from biomedicine and catalysis to adsorption technologies. However, our synthetic methodologies to functionalize and manipulate MOF nanoparticles (NPs) are less well developed than they might be. Here we create MOF NPs derivatized with hydrazone units on their exterior, enabling chemospecific reversible dynamic covalent modification of structures on the external surface.

Dynamically Tunable Assemblies of Superparamagnetic Nanoparticles Stabilized with Liquid Crystal-like Ligands in Organic Thin Films.

The process of arranging magnetic nanoparticles (MNPs) into long-range structures that can be dynamically and reversibly controlled is challenging, although interesting for emerging spintronic applications. Here, we report composites of MNPs in excess of LC-like ligands as promising materials for MNP-based technologies. The organic part ensures the assembly of MNP into long-range ordered phases as well as precise and temperature-reversible control over the arrangement.

Liquid-Crystalline Elastomers with Gold Nanoparticle Cross-Linkers.

Embedding nanoparticles in a responsive polymer matrix is a formidable way to fabricate hybrid materials with predesigned properties and prospective applications in actuators, mechanically tunable optical elements, and electroclinic films. However, achieving chemical compatibility between nanoparticles and organic matter is not trivial and often results in disordered structures. Herein, it is shown that using nanoparticles as exclusive cross-linkers in the preparation of liquid-crystalline polymers can yield long-range-ordered liquid-crystalline elastomers with high loadings of well-dispersed nanoparticles, as confirmed by small-angle XRD measurements.