| Abstract Scope |
Nanoparticle assemblies (NPAs) have emerging applications. Tuning the interparticle interaction is shown to be essential to reinforce NPAs, and three feasible ways of tuning are (1) establishing interparticle bonding, (2) developing local configurational confinement, and (3) adjusting the particle size. Interparticle bonding may be established through introducing a gluing-phase, e.g., through atomic layer deposition (ALD). ALD enables us to tone the interparticle interaction by depositing a reinforcing layer around all NPs. The ALD-treated silica NPA is drastically stiffened up to 30 times and hardened up to 200 times. We would also discuss the interparticle-interaction reinforcement through developing local configurational confinement, e.g., introducing shape-anisotropic NPs into NPAs greatly toughen NPAs without sacrificing their strength. Finally, we found that with decreasing the particle size from 300 nm to 10 nm, the NPAs become drastically harder (∼39×), stiffer (∼15×), and tougher (>3.5×). |