3D ordered gold strings by coating nanoparticles with mesogens

A report on ordered bulk arrays of gold nanoparticles with spatial arrangement governed by their coating with a laterally attached nematic liquid-crystal-forming ligand was presented. Grazing-incidence small-angle diffraction (GISAXS) of aligned thin films showed highly ordered rhombohedral and two-columnar including hexagonal and rectangular structures, with the adjustable gap between nanoparticles. It was also observed that the presence of the incorporated nanoparticles provided evidence of long range biaxial order in the surrounding nematic in one phase. True long-range biaxiality in the rectangular columnar phase of AuL4C6 was examined and confirmed by the Bragg diffraction from the rectangular lattice. This method demonstrated that highly ordered superlattices of metal nanoparticles can be obtained by coating the particles with a laterally attached nematogenic ligands.