Controlled Large-Scale Growth of Nanosheets

December 27, 2023
Comparison of the assembly pathway of typical sequential growth of nanosheets
Comparison of the assembly pathway of typical sequential growth of nanosheets that produces less well-ordered structures (top) with the developed programmed nanosheet growth mechanism that gives rise to much more ordered structures with fewer defects.

Scientific Achievement

Highly ordered nanosheets can be grown from blends of nanoparticles, small molecules and block copolymer supermolecules by controlling the self-assembly process. The resulting materials have very few defects, making them excellent candidates for high-performance barriers.

Significance and Impact

The newly-developed self-assembly pathway enabled simultaneous self-assembly of nanoscale structures into materials at scale, paving the way for manufacturing these materials for widespread use.

Research Details

  • Developed a blend of block copolymers, small molecules and nanoparticles and a process that allows for programmed self-assembly.
  • Performed a wide variety of materials characterizations to understand the resulting structure and dielectric performance.
  • Small-angle neutron scattering revealed solution-state structures that were the foundation of the self-assembly.
  •  

“Functional Composites by Programming Entropy-Driven Nanosheet Growth” 
Emma Vargo, Le Ma, He Li, Qingteng Zhang, Junpyo Kwon, Katherine M. Evans, Xiaochen Tang, Victoria L. Tovmasyan, Jasmine Jan8, Ana C. Arias, Hugo Destaillats, Ivan Kuzmenko, Jan Ilavsky, Wei-Ren Chen, William Heller, Robert O. Ritchie1,2,5, Yi Liu and Ting Xu1
Nature (in press)  (in press) DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-023-06660-x