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CdSe Nanoplatelets: Living Polymers
Author(s) -
Jana Santanu,
Davidson Patrick,
Abécassis Benjamin
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
angewandte chemie
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 1521-3757
pISSN - 0044-8249
DOI - 10.1002/ange.201603880
Subject(s) - colloid , polymer , nanotechnology , materials science , dispersion (optics) , oleic acid , nanoparticle , self assembly , quantum dot , chemical engineering , chemistry , composite material , optics , physics , biochemistry , engineering
Colloidal CdSe nanoplatelets are considered to be excellent candidates for many applications in nanotechnology. One of the current challenges is to self‐assemble these colloidal quantum wells into large ordered structures to control their collective optical properties. We describe a simple and robust procedure to achieve controlled face‐to‐face self‐assembly of CdSe nanoplatelets into micron‐long polymer‐like threads made of up to ∼1000 particles. These structures are formed by addition of oleic acid to a stable colloidal dispersion of platelets, followed by slow drying and re‐dispersion. We could control the average length of the CdSe nanoplatelet threads by varying the amount of added oleic acid. These 1‐dimensional structures are flexible and feature a “living polymer” character because threads of a given length can be further grown through the addition of supplementary nanoplatelets at their reactive ends.