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Assembling a lasing hybrid material with supramolecular polymers and nanocrystals

Nature Materials volume 2, pages 689–694 (2003)Cite this article

Abstract

The combination of bottom-up and top-down processes to organize nanophases in hybrid materials is a key strategy to create functional materials. We found that oxide and sulphide nanocrystals become spontaneously dispersed in organic media during the self-assembly of nanoribbon supramolecular polymers. These nanoribbon polymers form by self-assembly of dendron rodcoil molecules, which contain three molecular blocks with dendritic, rod-like, and coil-like architectures. In an electric field these supramolecular assemblies carrying bound nanocrystals migrate to the positive electrode in an etched channel and align in the field. In the system containing ZnO nanocrystals as the inorganic component, both phases are oriented in the hybrid material forming an ultraviolet lasing medium with a lower threshold relative to pure ZnO nanocrystals.

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Figure 1
Figure 2: Strong dispersion of nanocrystals in DRC gels.
Figure 3: Schematic representation of ZnO nanocrystal dispersion from the bottom of organic solutions by nanoribbons formed by self-assembly of DRC molecules.
Figure 4: Electric fields unidirectionally orient DRC nanoribbons.
Figure 5: TEM reveals the orientation of DRC nanoribbons along the poling direction.
Figure 6
Figure 7: Ultraviolet emission from poled DRC–ZnO films with lower threshold.

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Acknowledgements

This paper is based on work supported by the US Department of Energy (DE-FG02-00ER45810) and the US Army Research Office (DAAG55-97-1-0126). Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this publication are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Department of Energy or the Army Research Office.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Northwestern University, Evanston, 60208, Illinois, USA

    Leiming Li, Elia Beniash & Samuel I. Stupp

  2. Department of Chemistry, Northwestern University, Evanston, 60208, Illinois, USA

    Eugene R. Zubarev, Bryan M. Rabatic & Samuel I. Stupp

  3. College of Precision Instruments and Optoelectronics Engineering, Tianjin University, Tianjin, 300072, China

    Wanghua Xiang & Guizhong Zhang

  4. Feinberg School of Medicine, Northwestern University, Evanston, 60208, USA, Illinois

    Samuel I. Stupp

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Correspondence to Samuel I. Stupp.

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Li, L., Beniash, E., Zubarev, E. et al. Assembling a lasing hybrid material with supramolecular polymers and nanocrystals. Nature Mater 2, 689–694 (2003). https://doi.org/10.1038/nmat983

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