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Defect‐Directed Growth of Symmetrically Branched Metal Nanocrystals
Author(s) -
Smith Joshua D.,
Bladt Eva,
Burkhart Joseph A. C.,
Winckelmans Naomi,
Koczkur Kallum M.,
Ashberry Hannah M.,
Bals Sara,
Skrabalak Sara E.
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
angewandte chemie
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 1521-3757
pISSN - 0044-8249
DOI - 10.1002/ange.201913301
Subject(s) - nanocrystal , branching (polymer chemistry) , materials science , plasmon , nanotechnology , planar , chemical physics , characterization (materials science) , chemical engineering , chemistry , optoelectronics , composite material , computer graphics (images) , computer science , engineering
Branched plasmonic nanocrystals (NCs) have attracted much attention due to electric field enhancements at their tips. Seeded growth provides routes to NCs with defined branching patterns and, in turn, near‐field distributions with defined symmetries. Here, a systematic analysis was undertaken in which seeds containing different distributions of planar defects were used to grow branched NCs in order to understand how their distributions direct the branching. Characterization of the products by multimode electron tomography and analysis of the NC morphologies at different overgrowth stages indicate that the branching patterns are directed by the seed defects, with the emergence of branches from the seed faces consistent with minimizing volumetric strain energy at the expense of surface energy. These results contrast with growth of branched NCs from single‐crystalline seeds and provide a new platform for the synthesis of symmetrically branched plasmonic NCs.