Particle-rod nano structures and method of forming same by spin coating

1. A method of forming a particle-rod nanostructure, the method comprising:

preparing a mixture comprising an inorganic nanoparticle and an organic molecule in a solvent; and

spin-coating the mixture to nucleate the crystal growth of the organic molecule on the inorganic nanoparticle that is deposited on a substrate, yielding the particle-rod nanostructure.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein the inorganic nanoparticle includes one of cadmium selenide nanocrystals; metal chalcogenide nanoparticles; gold nanoparticles, and mixtures thereof.

3. The method of claim 2 wherein the metal chalcogenide nanoparticles include one of cadmium sulfide, cadmium telluride, zinc sulfide, zinc selenide, lead sulfide, and mixtures thereof.

4. The method of claim 1 wherein the organic molecule includes one of carboxylic acids, phospholipids, metal ion complexes with fatty acids, and mixtures thereof.

5. The method of claim 4 wherein the alkane carboxylic acids include one of arachidic acid, stearic acid, and mixtures thereof; the phospholipids include one of 1,2-dimyristoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphoethanolamine, 10,12-pentacosadiynoic acid, and mixtures thereof; and the metal ion complexes with fatty acids include one of copper (II) arachidate, manganese (II) arachidate, and mixtures thereof.

6. The method of claim 1 wherein the solvent includes one of methanol, ethanol, isopropanol, butanol, chloroform, tetrahydrofuran (THF), m-cresol, and mixtures thereof.

7. The method of claim 1 wherein the inorganic nanoparticles are capped with a capping agent.

8. The method of claim 7 wherein the capping agent includes alkanes modified with thiols at one end and carboxylic acid groups at another end.

9. The method of claim 8 wherein the carboxylic acid groups include one of mercaptoundecanoic acid (MUA), mercaptohexadecanoic acid (MHA), and mixtures thereof.

10. The method of claim 1 wherein the substrate is highly oriented pyrolytic graphite, substrates wettable by the solvent including oxidized silicon wafer coated by a layer of organosilanes, the organosilanes including one of octadecyltrichlorosilane, aminobutyldimethylmethoxysilane, and mixtures thereof.

11. The method of claim 1 wherein the step of preparing the mixture comprises:

preparing inorganic nanocrystals;

coating the inorganic nanocrystals with a capping agent to define the inorganic nanoparticles; and

mixing the inorganic nanoparticles with the organic molecule in solvent to define the mixture.

12. The method of claim 11 wherein the mole ratio of the inorganic nanoparticles to the capping agent obtained ranges between about 1:0.1 and 1:1.

13. The method of claim 1 wherein spin-coating comprises:

spinning the mixture between about 1000 and 5000 rotations per minute;

evaporating the solvent during spinning;

precipitating an organic stripe phase layer on the substrate, the organic stripe phase layer defined by a plurality of organic molecules arranged in ordered strips;

depositing the inorganic nanoparticles on the organic stripe phase layer; and

nucleating a one-dimensional assembly of organic molecules on the surface of the inorganic nanoparticle to define the particle-rod nanostructure.