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Now showing 1 - 6 of 6
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    On the geometric stability of an inorganic nanowire and an organic ligand shell
    (Amsterdam [u.a.] : Elsevier Science, 2019) Bettscheider, Simon; Kraus, Tobias; Fleck, NormanA.
    The break-up of a nanowire with an organic ligand shell into discrete droplets is analysed in terms of the Rayleigh-Plateau instability. Explicit account is taken of the effect of the organic ligand shell upon the energetics and kinetics of surface diffusion in the wire. Both an initial perturbation analysis and a full numerical analysis of the evolution in wire morphology are conducted, and the governing non-dimensional groups are identified. The perturbation analysis is remarkably accurate in obtaining the main features of the instability, including the pinch-off time and the resulting diameter of the droplets. It is conjectured that the surface energy of the wire and surrounding organic shell depends upon both the mean and deviatoric invariants of the curvature tensor. Such a behaviour allows for the possibility of a stable nanowire such that the Rayleigh-Plateau instability is not energetically favourable. A stability map illustrates this. Maps are also constructed for the final droplet size and pinch-off time as a function of two non-dimensional groups that characterise the energetics and kinetics of diffusion in the presence of the organic shell. These maps can guide future experimental activity on the stabilisation of nanowires by organic ligand shells. © 2018 The Authors
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    Ageing of alkylthiol-stabilized gold nanoparticles
    (Hoboken, NJ : Wiley, 2015) Lacava, Johann; Weber, Anika; Kraus, Tobias
    The ageing of spherical gold nanoparticles having 6-nm-diameter cores and a ligand shell of dodecanethiol is investigated under different storage conditions. Losses caused by agglomeration and changes in optical particle properties are quantified. Changes in colloidal stability are probed by analytical centrifugation in a polar solvent mixture. Chemical changes are detected by elementary analysis of particles and solvent. Fractionation occurs under all storage conditions. Ageing is not uniform but broadens the property distributions of the particles. Small-number statistics in the ligand shell density and the morphological heterogeneity of particles are possible explanations. Washing steps exacerbate ageing, a process that could not be fully reversed by excess ligands. Dry storage is not preferable to storage in solvent. Storage under inert argon atmosphere reduces losses more than all other conditions but could not prevent it entirely.
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    Self-assembly of gold nanoparticles at the oil-vapor interface: from mono- to multilayers
    (Washington D.C. : American Chemical Society, 2014) Born, Philip; Schön, Volker; Blum, Susanne; Gerstner, Dominik; Huber, Patrick; Kraus, Tobias
    Alkylthiol-coated gold nanoparticles spontaneously segregate from dispersion in toluene to the toluene-vapor interface. We show that surface tension drops during segregation with a rate that depends on particle concentration. Mono- and multilayers of particles form depending on particle concentration, time, and temperature. X-ray reflectometry indicates fast monolayer formation and slow multilayer formation. A model that combines diffusion-limited segregation driven by surface energy and heterogeneous agglomeration driven by dispersive van der Waals particle interactions is proposed to describe film formation.
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    Dense arrays of uniform submicron pores in silicon and their applications
    (Washington D.C. : American Chemical Society, 2015) Brodoceanu, Daniel; Elnathan, Roey; Prieto-Simón, Beatriz; Delalat, Bahman; Guinan, Taryn M.; Kroner, Elmar Karsten; Voelcker, Nicolas H.; Kraus, Tobias
    We report a versatile particle-based route to dense arrays of parallel submicron pores with high aspect ratio in silicon, and explore the application of these arrays in sensors, optics, and polymer micropatterning. Polystyrene (PS) spheres are convectively assembled on gold-coated silicon wafers and sputter-etched, resulting in well-defined gold disc arrays with excellent long-range order. The gold discs act as catalysts in Metal-Assisted Chemical Etching (MACE), yielding uniform pores with straight walls, flat bottoms and high aspect ratio. The resulting pore arrays can be used as robust antireflective surfaces, in biosensing applications, and as templates for polymer replica molding.
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    Multivalent bonds in self-assembled bundles of ultrathin gold nanowires
    (Cambridge : Royal Society of Chemistry, 2016) Reiser, Beate; Gerstner, Dominik; González-García, Lola; Maurer, Johannes H.M.; Kanelidis, Ioannis; Kraus, Tobias
    Ultrathin gold nanowires are unusual colloidal objects that assemble into bundles with line contacts between parallel wires. Each molecule in the contact line interacts with many ligand and solvent molecules. We used X-ray scattering and electron microscopy to study how these interactions control assembly.
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    Percolation of rigid fractal carbon black aggregates
    (Melville, NY : American Institute of Physics, 2021) Coupette, Fabian; Zhang, Long; Kuttich, Björn; Chumakov, Andrei; Roth, Stephan V.; González-García, Lola; Kraus, Tobias; Schilling, Tanja
    We examine network formation and percolation of carbon black by means of Monte Carlo simulations and experiments. In the simulation, we model carbon black by rigid aggregates of impenetrable spheres, which we obtain by diffusion-limited aggregation. To determine the input parameters for the simulation, we experimentally characterize the micro-structure and size distribution of carbon black aggregates. We then simulate suspensions of aggregates and determine the percolation threshold as a function of the aggregate size distribution. We observe a quasi-universal relation between the percolation threshold and a weighted average radius of gyration of the aggregate ensemble. Higher order moments of the size distribution do not have an effect on the percolation threshold. We conclude further that the concentration of large carbon black aggregates has a stronger influence on the percolation threshold than the concentration of small aggregates. In the experiment, we disperse the carbon black in a polymer matrix and measure the conductivity of the composite. We successfully test the hypotheses drawn from simulation by comparing composites prepared with the same type of carbon black before and after ball milling, i.e., on changing only the distribution of aggregate sizes in the composites.