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Copyright 2004 by Marcel Dekker, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

Copyright 2004 by Marcel Dekker, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

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10Synthesis and Fabrication of MetalNanocrystal SuperlatticesR. Christopher Doty, Michael B. Sigman, Jr.,Cynthia A. Stowell, Parag S. Shah, Aaron E. Saunders,and Brian A. KorgelThe University of Texas, Austin, Texas, U.S.A.I. INTRODUCTIONOrganic monolayer-coated metal nanocrystals can be synthesized <strong>by</strong> arrestedprecipitation with sizes ranging from 1.5 to 20 nm in diameter [1–9]. Arrestedprecipitation involves the reduction of a metal salt [3] or metallorganicprecursor [1] in the presence of bifunctional organic molecules with a chemicalbinding group on one end and a bulky inert group on the other. The ligandscoat the nanocrystals and provide a steric barrier to aggregation as shown inFig. 1. The ligands also provide chemical passivation of the surface, thusdecreasing the susceptibility to oxidation and other forms of chemical degradationwhile controlling the dispersibility in various solvents. Nanocrystalsize distributions with standard deviations less than 10% can be achieved<strong>by</strong> employing size-selective precipitation [10]. These size-monodisperse stericallystabilized nanocrystals can be condensed into superlattices: the particlesorganize into a crystal lattice with long-range translational order simply <strong>by</strong>evaporating the solvent from a concentrated dispersion [10,11]. Figure 2 showshigh-resolution scanning electron microscopy (HR-SEM) and transmissionelectron microscopy (HR-TEM) images of two- (2D) and three-dimensional(3D) colloidal crystals of organic monolayer coated metal nanocrystals. Theseimages demonstrate the potential for precise, controlled self-assembly ofnanocrystal superlattices: The ligands control the interparticle separationand the nanocrystal size is tunable.<strong>Copyright</strong> <strong>2004</strong> <strong>by</strong> <strong>Marcel</strong> <strong>Dekker</strong>, <strong>Inc</strong>. <strong>All</strong> <strong>Rights</strong> <strong>Reserved</strong>.

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