Structural diversity in iron oxide nanoparticle assemblies as directed by particle morphology and orientation

Sabrina Disch; Erik Wetterskog; Raphaël P. Hermann; Denis Korolkov; Peter Busch; Peter Boesecke; Olivier Lyon; Ulla Vainio; German Salazar-Alvarez; Lennart Bergström; Thomas Brückel

doi:10.1039/C3NR33282A

Structural diversity in iron oxide nanoparticle assemblies as directed by particle morphology and orientation†

Sabrina Disch,‡*^a Erik Wetterskog,^b Raphaël P. Hermann,^ac Denis Korolkov,^d Peter Busch,^d Peter Boesecke,^e Olivier Lyon,^f Ulla Vainio,^g German Salazar-Alvarez,^b Lennart Bergström^b and Thomas Brückel^a

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* Corresponding authors

^a Jülich Centre for Neutron Science JCNS and Peter Grünberg Institut PGI, JARA-FIT, Forschungszentrum Jülich GmbH, D-52425 Jülich, Germany

^b Department of Materials and Environmental Chemistry, Arrhenius Laboratory, Stockholm University, S-10691 Stockholm, Sweden

^c Faculty of Science, University of Liège, B-4000 Liège, Belgium

^d Jülich Centre for Neutron Science JCNS-FRM II, Forschungszentrum Jülich GmbH, Outstation at FRM II, Lichtenbergstr. 1, D-85747 Garching, Germany

^e European Synchrotron Radiation Facility (ESRF), F-38043 Grenoble, France

^f Synchrotron SOLEIL, St. Aubin, F-91192 Gif-sur-Yvette, France

^g HASYLAB at DESY, D-22607 Hamburg, Germany

Abstract

The mesostructure of ordered arrays of anisotropic nanoparticles is controlled by a combination of packing constraints and interparticle interactions, two factors that are strongly dependent on the particle morphology. We have investigated how the degree of truncation of iron oxide nanocubes controls the mesostructure and particle orientation in drop cast mesocrystal arrays. The combination of grazing incidence small-angle X-ray scattering and scanning electron microscopy shows that mesocrystals of highly truncated cubic nanoparticles assemble in an fcc-type mesostructure, similar to arrays formed by iron oxide nanospheres, but with a significantly reduced packing density and displaying two different growth orientations. Strong satellite reflections in the GISAXS pattern indicate a commensurate mesoscopic superstructure that is related to stacking faults in mesocrystals of the anisotropic nanocubes. Our results show how subtle variation in shape anisotropy can induce oriented arrangements of nanoparticles of different structures and also create mesoscopic superstructures of larger periodicity.

Nanoscale

Structural diversity in iron oxide nanoparticle assemblies as directed by particle morphology and orientation†

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