Letter abstract


Nature Materials 6, 656 - 660 (2007)
Published online: 22 July 2007 | doi:10.1038/nmat1965

Subject Categories: Colloids | Structural materials | Nanoscale materials

Elastic membranes of close-packed nanoparticle arrays

Klara E. Mueggenburg1, Xiao-Min Lin2, Rodney H. Goldsmith1 & Heinrich M. Jaeger1

Top

Nanoparticle superlattices are hybrid materials composed of close-packed inorganic particles separated by short organic spacers. Most work so far has concentrated on the unique electronic, optical and magnetic behaviour of these systems1, 2, 3, 4, 5. Here, we demonstrate that they also possess remarkable mechanical properties. We focus on two-dimensional arrays of close-packed nanoparticles6, 7 and show that they can be stretched across micrometre-size holes. The resulting free-standing monolayer membranes extend over hundreds of particle diameters without crosslinking of the ligands or further embedding in polymer. To characterize the membranes we measured elastic properties with force microscopy and determined the array structure using transmission electron microscopy. For dodecanethiol-ligated 6-nm-diameter gold nanocrystal monolayers, we find a Young's modulus of the order of several GPa. This remarkable strength is coupled with high flexibility, enabling the membranes to bend easily while draping over edges. The arrays remain intact and able to withstand tensile stresses up to temperatures around 370 K. The purely elastic response of these ultrathin membranes, coupled with exceptional robustness and resilience at high temperatures should make them excellent candidates for a wide range of sensor applications.

Top
  1. James Franck Institute and Department of Physics, The University of Chicago, 929 E. 57th St., Chicago, Illinois 60637, USA
  2. Center for Nanoscale Materials, Argonne National Laboratory, 9700 South Cass Ave., Argonne, Illinois 60439, USA

Correspondence to: Heinrich M. Jaeger1 e-mail: h-jaeger@uchicago.edu



MORE ARTICLES LIKE THIS

These links to content published by NPG are automatically generated.


Extra navigation

Subscribe to Nature Materials

Subscribe

Open Innovation Challenges

  • Highly Charged Hydrogel without Ion Condensation

    • Deadline: Aug 24 2009
    • Reward: $50,000 USD

    The Seeker is looking for experimental ways to avoid ion condensation in highly charged, crosslinked...

  • Mitigating Zinc Corrosion

    • Deadline: Aug 23 2009
    • Reward: $20,000 USD

    The Seeker is looking for novel methods to mitigate zinc corrosion/gassing in alkaline media. This ...

naturejobs

natureproducts


ADVERTISEMENT