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Orzechowski K, Tupikowska M, Strzeżysz O, Feng TM, Chen WY, Wu LY, Wang CT, Otón E, Wójcik MM, Bagiński M, Lesiak P, Lewandowski W, Woliński TR. Achiral Nanoparticle-Enhanced Chiral Twist and Thermal Stability of Blue Phase Liquid Crystals. ACS Nano 2022; 16:20577-20588. [PMID: 36475617 PMCID: PMC9798865 DOI: 10.1021/acsnano.2c07321] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/23/2022] [Accepted: 12/06/2022] [Indexed: 06/17/2023]
Abstract
Blue phase liquid crystals (BPLCs) are chiral mesophases with 3D order, which makes them a promising template for doping nanoparticles (NPs), yielding tunable nanomaterials attractive for microlasers and numerous microsensor applications. However, doping NPs to BPLCs causes BP lattice extension, which translates to elongation of operating wavelengths of light reflection. Here, it is demonstrated that small (2.4 nm diameter) achiral gold (Au) NPs decorated with designed LC-like ligands can enhance the chiral twist of BPLCs (i.e., reduce cell size of the single BP unit up to ∼14% and ∼7% for BPI and BPII, respectively), translating to a blue-shift of Bragg reflection. Doping NPs also significantly increases the thermal stability of BPs from 5.5 °C (for undoped BPLC) up to 22.8 °C (for doped BPLC). In line with our expectations, both effects are saturated, and their magnitude depends on the concentration of investigated nanodopants as well the BP phase type. Our research highlights the critical role of functionalization of Au NPs on the phase sequence of BPLCs. We show that inappropriate selection of surface ligands can destabilize BPs. Our BPLC and Au NPs are photochemically stable and exhibit great miscibility, preventing NP aggregation in the BPLC matrix over the long term. We believe that our findings will improve the fabrication of advanced nanomaterials into 3D periodic soft photonic structures.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kamil Orzechowski
- Faculty
of Physics, Warsaw University of Technology, Koszykowa 75, 00-662Warsaw, Poland
| | - Martyna Tupikowska
- Faculty
of Chemistry, University of Warsaw, Pasteura 1, 02-093Warsaw, Poland
| | - Olga Strzeżysz
- Institute
of Chemistry, Military University of Technology, Kaliskiego 2, 00-908Warsaw, Poland
| | - Ting-Mao Feng
- Department
of Photonics, National Sun Yat-sen University, No. 70 Lien-hai Road, Kaohsiung80424, Taiwan
| | - Wei-Yuan Chen
- Department
of Photonics, National Sun Yat-sen University, No. 70 Lien-hai Road, Kaohsiung80424, Taiwan
| | - Liang-Ying Wu
- Department
of Photonics, National Sun Yat-sen University, No. 70 Lien-hai Road, Kaohsiung80424, Taiwan
| | - Chun-Ta Wang
- Department
of Photonics, National Sun Yat-sen University, No. 70 Lien-hai Road, Kaohsiung80424, Taiwan
| | - Eva Otón
- Institute
of Applied Physics, Military University
of Technology, Kaliskiego 2, 00-908Warsaw, Poland
| | - Michał M. Wójcik
- Faculty
of Chemistry, University of Warsaw, Pasteura 1, 02-093Warsaw, Poland
| | - Maciej Bagiński
- Faculty
of Chemistry, University of Warsaw, Pasteura 1, 02-093Warsaw, Poland
| | - Piotr Lesiak
- Faculty
of Physics, Warsaw University of Technology, Koszykowa 75, 00-662Warsaw, Poland
| | - Wiktor Lewandowski
- Faculty
of Chemistry, University of Warsaw, Pasteura 1, 02-093Warsaw, Poland
| | - Tomasz R. Woliński
- Faculty
of Physics, Warsaw University of Technology, Koszykowa 75, 00-662Warsaw, Poland
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Sobczak K, Turczyniak-Surdacka S, Lewandowski W, Baginski M, Tupikowska M, González-Rubio G, Wójcik M, Carlsson A, Donten M. STEM Tomography of Au Helical Assemblies. Microsc Microanal 2021; 28:1-5. [PMID: 34169809 DOI: 10.1017/s1431927621012009] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/13/2023]
Abstract
Composite, helical nanostructures formed using cooperative interactions of liquid crystals and Au nanoparticles were studied using a scanning transmission electron microscopy (STEM) mode. The investigated helical assemblies exhibit long-range hierarchical order across length scales, as a result of the crystallization (freezing) directed growth mechanism of nanoparticle-coated twisted nanoribbons and their ability to form organized bundles. Here, STEM methods were used to reproduce the 3D structure of the Au nanoparticle double helix.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kamil Sobczak
- Faculty of Chemistry, Biological and Chemical Research Centre, University of Warsaw, Żwirki i Wigury 101, 02-089Warsaw, Poland
| | - Sylwia Turczyniak-Surdacka
- Faculty of Chemistry, Biological and Chemical Research Centre, University of Warsaw, Żwirki i Wigury 101, 02-089Warsaw, Poland
| | - Wiktor Lewandowski
- Faculty of Chemistry, University of Warsaw, Pasteura 1, 02-093Warsaw, Poland
| | - Maciej Baginski
- Faculty of Chemistry, University of Warsaw, Pasteura 1, 02-093Warsaw, Poland
| | - Martyna Tupikowska
- Faculty of Chemistry, University of Warsaw, Pasteura 1, 02-093Warsaw, Poland
| | | | - Michał Wójcik
- Faculty of Chemistry, University of Warsaw, Pasteura 1, 02-093Warsaw, Poland
| | - Anna Carlsson
- Thermo Fisher Scientific, Materials & Structural Analysis, Eindhoven, The Netherlands
| | - Mikołaj Donten
- Faculty of Chemistry, University of Warsaw, Pasteura 1, 02-093Warsaw, Poland
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Bagiński M, Pedrazo-Tardajos A, Altantzis T, Tupikowska M, Vetter A, Tomczyk E, Suryadharma RN, Pawlak M, Andruszkiewicz A, Górecka E, Pociecha D, Rockstuhl C, Bals S, Lewandowski W. Understanding and Controlling the Crystallization Process in Reconfigurable Plasmonic Superlattices. ACS Nano 2021; 15:4916-4926. [PMID: 33621046 PMCID: PMC8028333 DOI: 10.1021/acsnano.0c09746] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/04/2023]
Abstract
The crystallization of nanomaterials is a primary source of solid-state, photonic structures. Thus, a detailed understanding of this process is of paramount importance for the successful application of photonic nanomaterials in emerging optoelectronic technologies. While colloidal crystallization has been thoroughly studied, for example, with advanced in situ electron microscopy methods, the noncolloidal crystallization (freezing) of nanoparticles (NPs) remains so far unexplored. To fill this gap, in this work, we present proof-of-principle experiments decoding a crystallization of reconfigurable assemblies of NPs at a solid state. The chosen material corresponds to an excellent testing bed, as it enables both in situ and ex situ investigation using X-ray diffraction (XRD), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), high-angle annular dark-field scanning transmission electron microscopy (HAADF-STEM), atomic force microscopy (AFM), and optical spectroscopy in visible and ultraviolet range (UV-vis) techniques. In particular, ensemble measurements with small-angle XRD highlighted the dependence of the correlation length in the NPs assemblies on the number of heating/cooling cycles and the rate of cooling. Ex situ TEM imaging further supported these results by revealing a dependence of domain size and structure on the sample preparation route and by showing we can control the domain size over 2 orders of magnitude. The application of HAADF-STEM tomography, combined with in situ thermal control, provided three-dimensional single-particle level information on the positional order evolution within assemblies. This combination of real and reciprocal space provides insightful information on the anisotropic, reversibly reconfigurable assemblies of NPs. TEM measurements also highlighted the importance of interfaces in the polydomain structure of nanoparticle solids, allowing us to understand experimentally observed differences in UV-vis extinction spectra of the differently prepared crystallites. Overall, the obtained results show that the combination of in situ heating HAADF-STEM tomography with XRD and ex situ TEM techniques is a powerful approach to study nanoparticle freezing processes and to reveal the crucial impact of disorder in the solid-state aggregates of NPs on their plasmonic properties.
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Affiliation(s)
- Maciej Bagiński
- Faculty
of Chemistry, University of Warsaw, 1 Pasteura St., 02-093 Warsaw, Poland
| | - Adrián Pedrazo-Tardajos
- Electron
Microscopy for Materials Research, University
of Antwerp, Groenenborgerlaan, 171, 2020 Antwerp, Belgium
| | - Thomas Altantzis
- Electron
Microscopy for Materials Research, University
of Antwerp, Groenenborgerlaan, 171, 2020 Antwerp, Belgium
| | - Martyna Tupikowska
- Faculty
of Chemistry, University of Warsaw, 1 Pasteura St., 02-093 Warsaw, Poland
| | - Andreas Vetter
- Institute
of Theoretical Solid State Physics, Karlsruhe
Institute of Technology, 76131 Karlsruhe, Germany
| | - Ewelina Tomczyk
- Faculty
of Chemistry, University of Warsaw, 1 Pasteura St., 02-093 Warsaw, Poland
| | - Radius N.S. Suryadharma
- Institute
of Theoretical Solid State Physics, Karlsruhe
Institute of Technology, 76131 Karlsruhe, Germany
| | - Mateusz Pawlak
- Faculty
of Chemistry, University of Warsaw, 1 Pasteura St., 02-093 Warsaw, Poland
| | - Aneta Andruszkiewicz
- Faculty
of Chemistry, University of Warsaw, 1 Pasteura St., 02-093 Warsaw, Poland
- Department
of Chemistry, Uppsala Universitet, Lägerhyddsvägen 1, 751 20 Uppsala, Sweden
| | - Ewa Górecka
- Faculty
of Chemistry, University of Warsaw, 1 Pasteura St., 02-093 Warsaw, Poland
| | - Damian Pociecha
- Faculty
of Chemistry, University of Warsaw, 1 Pasteura St., 02-093 Warsaw, Poland
| | - Carsten Rockstuhl
- Institute
of Theoretical Solid State Physics, Karlsruhe
Institute of Technology, 76131 Karlsruhe, Germany
- Institute
of Nanotechnology, Karlsruhe Institute of
Technology, 76021 Karlsruhe, Germany
| | - Sara Bals
- Electron
Microscopy for Materials Research, University
of Antwerp, Groenenborgerlaan, 171, 2020 Antwerp, Belgium
- (S.B.)
| | - Wiktor Lewandowski
- Faculty
of Chemistry, University of Warsaw, 1 Pasteura St., 02-093 Warsaw, Poland
- (W.L.)
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Wolska JM, Błażejewska A, Tupikowska M, Pociecha D, Górecka E. Gold nanoparticles grafted with chemically incompatible ligands. RSC Adv 2021; 11:9568-9571. [PMID: 35423469 PMCID: PMC8695456 DOI: 10.1039/d1ra00547b] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/21/2021] [Revised: 05/05/2021] [Accepted: 02/22/2021] [Indexed: 01/25/2023] Open
Abstract
Janus-type structures were obtained from gold nanoparticles grafted with two types of chemically incompatible mesogenic ligands with a strong tendency for nano-segregation. A lamellar arrangement, in which metallic nanoparticle-rich sublayers are separated by organic ligand-rich sublayers of various composition, was formed due to the ligand segregation process. The layers could be easily aligned by mechanical shearing; for most materials the layer normal was parallel to the shearing direction but perpendicular to the shearing gradient, such transverse mode is only rarely observed for lamellar materials. Reversible changes of layer thickness under UV light were observed due to the presence of an azo-moiety in the organic ligand molecules.
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Affiliation(s)
- Joanna M Wolska
- Department of Chemistry, Warsaw University Pasteura 1 02-093 Warsaw Poland +48 22 822 0211
| | - Aleksandra Błażejewska
- Department of Chemistry, Warsaw University Pasteura 1 02-093 Warsaw Poland +48 22 822 0211
| | - Martyna Tupikowska
- Department of Chemistry, Warsaw University Pasteura 1 02-093 Warsaw Poland +48 22 822 0211
| | - Damian Pociecha
- Department of Chemistry, Warsaw University Pasteura 1 02-093 Warsaw Poland +48 22 822 0211
| | - Ewa Górecka
- Department of Chemistry, Warsaw University Pasteura 1 02-093 Warsaw Poland +48 22 822 0211
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Wolska JM, Błażejewska A, Tupikowska M, Pociecha D, Górecka E. Correction: Gold nanoparticles grafted with chemically incompatible ligands. RSC Adv 2021; 11:16479. [PMID: 35479161 PMCID: PMC9031184 DOI: 10.1039/d1ra90112e] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/23/2021] [Accepted: 04/23/2021] [Indexed: 11/21/2022] Open
Abstract
Correction for ‘Gold nanoparticles grafted with chemically incompatible ligands’ by Joanna M. Wolska et al., RSC Adv., 2021, 11, 9568–9571, DOI: 10.1039/D1RA00547B.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | | | | | - Ewa Górecka
- Faculty of Chemistry
- University of Warsaw
- 02-093 Warsaw
- Poland
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6
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Bagiński M, Tupikowska M, González-Rubio G, Wójcik M, Lewandowski W. Shaping Liquid Crystals with Gold Nanoparticles: Helical Assemblies with Tunable and Hierarchical Structures Via Thin-Film Cooperative Interactions. Adv Mater 2020; 32:e1904581. [PMID: 31729083 DOI: 10.1002/adma.201904581] [Citation(s) in RCA: 42] [Impact Index Per Article: 10.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/17/2019] [Revised: 09/26/2019] [Indexed: 05/21/2023]
Abstract
The availability of helical assemblies of plasmonic nanoparticles with precisely controlled and tunable structures can play a key role in the future development of chiral plasmonics and metamaterials. Here, a strategy to efficiently yield helical structures based on the cooperative interactions of liquid crystals and gold nanoparticles in thin films is developed. These nanocomposites exhibit exceptional long-range hierarchical order across length scales, which results from the growth mechanism of nanoparticle-coated twisted nanoribbons and their ability to form organized bundles. The helical assembly formation is governed by the presence of rationally functionalized nanoparticles. Importantly, the thickness of the achieved nanocomposites can be reversibly reconfigured owing to the polymorphic nature of the liquid crystal. The versatility of the proposed approach is demonstrated by preparing helices assembled from nanoparticles of different geometries and dimensions (spherical and rod-like). The described strategy may become an enabling technology for structuring nanoparticle assemblies with high precision and fabricating optically active materials.
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Affiliation(s)
- Maciej Bagiński
- Laboratory of Organic Nanomaterials and Biomolecules, Faculty of Chemistry, University of Warsaw, Pasteura 1 Street, 02-093, Warsaw, Poland
| | - Martyna Tupikowska
- Laboratory of Organic Nanomaterials and Biomolecules, Faculty of Chemistry, University of Warsaw, Pasteura 1 Street, 02-093, Warsaw, Poland
| | - Guillermo González-Rubio
- BioNanoPlasmonic Laboratory, CIC biomaGUNE, Paseo de Miramón 182, Donostia-San Sebastián, 20014, Spain
| | - Michał Wójcik
- Laboratory of Organic Nanomaterials and Biomolecules, Faculty of Chemistry, University of Warsaw, Pasteura 1 Street, 02-093, Warsaw, Poland
| | - Wiktor Lewandowski
- Laboratory of Organic Nanomaterials and Biomolecules, Faculty of Chemistry, University of Warsaw, Pasteura 1 Street, 02-093, Warsaw, Poland
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