Two-dimensional arrangement of octadecylamine-functionalized gold nanoparticles using the LB technique

Abstract

The LB technique is an important way to obtain the ordered aggregate of nanometre-sized particles. However, with the usual LB technique only those particles capped by short-chain molecules (12) can form a highly ordered two-dimensional (2D) arrangement. When the capping molecules become longer, it is difficult to obtain ordered aggregates. This has been considered to be caused by the hydrophobic interaction of the large organic shells, which has possibly hindered the procedure of self-assembly. Motivated by this, we modified the LB technique by using the multistep creeping method and increasing the subphase temperature during compression. With these modifications, we obtained the long-range ordered 2D arrangement of gold nanoparticles capped by octadecylamine.