Magnetic field induced quantum dot brightening in liquid crystal synergized magnetic and semiconducting nanoparticle composite assemblies

Directed assembly of magnetic and semiconducting nanoparticles with tunable and synergistic functionality

The ability to fabricate new materials using nanomaterials as building blocks, and with meta functionalities, is one of the most intriguing possibilities in the area of materials design and synthesis. Semiconducting quantum dots (QDs) and magnetic nanoparticles (MNPs) are co-dispersed in a liquid crystalline (LC) matrix and directed to form self-similar assemblies by leveraging the host's thermotropic phase transition. These co-assemblies, comprising 6 nm CdSe/ZnS QDs and 5-20 nm Fe₃O₄ MNPs, bridge nano- to micron length scales, and can be modulated in situ by applied magnetic fields <250 mT, resulting in an enhancement of QD photoluminescence (PL). This effect is reversible in co-assemblies with 5 and 10 nm MNPs but demonstrates hysteresis in those with 20 nm MNPs. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and energy dispersive spectroscopy reveal that at the nanoscale, while the QDs are densely packed into the center of the co-assemblies, the MNPs are relatively uniformly dispersed through the cluster volume. Using Lorentz TEM, it is observed that MNPs suspended in LC rotate to align with the applied field, which is attributed to be the cause of the observed PL increase at the micro-scale. This study highlights the critical role of correlating multiscale spectroscopy and microscopy characterization in order to clarify how interactions at the nanoscale manifest in microscale functionality.

Free-energy model for nanoparticle self-assembly by liquid crystal sorting

We modeled the experimentally observed self-assembly of nanoparticles (NPs) into shells with diameters up to 10 μm, via segregation from growing nematic domains. Using field-based Monte Carlo simulations, we found the equilibrium configurations of the system by minimizing a free-energy functional that includes effects of excluded-volume interactions among NPs, orientational elasticity, and the isotropic-nematic phase-transition energy. We developed a Gaussian-profile approximation for the liquid crystal (LC) order-parameter field that provides accurate analytical values for the free energy of LC droplets and the associated microshells. This analytical model reveals a first-order transition between equilibrium states with and without microshells, governed mainly by the competition of excluded-volume and phase-transition energies. By contrast, the LC elasticity effects are much smaller and mostly confined to setting the size of the activation barrier for the transition. In conclusion, field-based thermodynamic methods provide a theoretical framework for the self-assembly of NP shells in liquid crystal hosts and suggest that field-based kinetic methods could be useful to simulate and model the time evolution of NP self-assembly coupled to phase separation.

Phase Transition-Driven Nanoparticle Assembly in Liquid Crystal Droplets

When nanoparticle self-assembly takes place in an anisotropic liquid crystal environment, fascinating new effects can arise. The presence of elastic anisotropy and topological defects can direct spatial organization. An important goal in nanoscience is to direct the assembly of nanoparticles over large length scales to produce macroscopic composite materials; however, limitations on spatial ordering exist due to the inherent disorder of fluid-based methods. In this paper we demonstrate the formation of quantum dot clusters and spherical capsules suspended within spherical liquid crystal droplets as a method to position nanoparticle clusters at defined locations. Our experiments demonstrate that particle sorting at the isotropic–nematic phase front can dominate over topological defect-based assembly. Notably, we find that assembly at the nematic phase front can force nanoparticle clustering at energetically unfavorable locations in the droplets to form stable hollow capsules and fractal clusters at the droplet centers.