Ordering nanoparticles with polymer brushes

Cheng, Shengfeng; Stevens, Mark J.; Grest, Gary S.

doi:10.1063/1.5006048

Ordering nanoparticles with polymer brushes

Journal Article · Thu Dec 07 23:00:00 EST 2017 · Journal of Chemical Physics

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1063/1.5006048· OSTI ID:1421858

^[1]; Stevens, Mark J. ^[2]; ^[2]

Virginia Polytechnic Inst. and State Univ. (Virginia Tech), Blacksburg, VA (United States)
Sandia National Lab. (SNL-NM), Albuquerque, NM (United States)

Ordering nanoparticles into a desired super-structure is often crucial for their technological applications. We use molecular dynamics simulations to study the assembly of nanoparticles in a polymer brush randomly grafted to a planar surface as the solvent evaporates. Initially, the nanoparticles are dispersed in a solvent that wets the polymer brush. After the solvent evaporates, the nanoparticles are either inside the brush or adsorbed at the surface of the brush, depending on the strength of the nanoparticle-polymer interaction. For strong nanoparticle-polymer interactions, a 2-dimensional ordered array is only formed when the brush density is finely tuned to accommodate a single layer of nanoparticles. When the brush density is higher or lower than this optimal value, the distribution of nanoparticles shows large fluctuations in space and the packing order diminishes. For weak nanoparticle-polymer interactions, the nanoparticles order into a hexagonal array on top of the polymer brush as long as the grafting density is high enough to yield a dense brush. As a result, an interesting healing effect is observed for a low-grafting-density polymer brush that can become more uniform in the presence of weakly adsorbed nanoparticles.

View Accepted Manuscript (DOE)

Research Organization:: Sandia National Laboratories (SNL-NM), Albuquerque, NM (United States)

Sponsoring Organization:: USDOE Office of Science (SC), Basic Energy Sciences (BES) (SC-22)

Grant/Contract Number:: AC04-94AL85000

OSTI ID:: 1421858

Alternate ID(s):: OSTI ID: 1412002
OSTI ID: 1478063

Report Number(s):: SAND--2017-11340J; 657948

Journal Information:: Journal of Chemical Physics, Journal Name: Journal of Chemical Physics Journal Issue: 22 Vol. 147; ISSN 0021-9606

Publisher:: American Institute of Physics (AIP)Copyright Statement

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

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