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Letter

Nature Materials 3, 302–306 (1 May 2004) | doi:10.1038/nmat1110

Hierarchical nanoparticle assemblies formed by decorating breath figures

Alexander B|[ouml]|ker , Yao Lin , Kristen Chiapperini , Reina Horowitz , Mike Thompson , Vincent Carreon , Ting Xu , Clarissa Abetz , Habib Skaff , A. D. Dinsmore , Todd Emrick & Thomas P. Russell

The combination of two self-assembly processes on different length scales leads to the formation of hierarchically structured nanoparticle arrays. Here, the formation of spherical cavities, or 'breath figures'—made by the condensation of micrometre-sized water droplets on the surface of a polymer solution—that self-assemble into a well-ordered hexagonal array, is combined with the self-assembly of CdSe nanoparticles at the polymer solution–water droplet interface.