Abstract
The collective properties of self-assembled nanoparticles with long-range order bear immense potential for customized electronic materials by design. However, to mitigate the shortcoming of the finite-size distribution of nanoparticles and thus, the inherent energetic disorder within assemblies, atomically precise nanoclusters are the most promising building blocks. We report an easy and broadly applicable method for the controlled self-assembly of atomically precise Au32(nBu3P)12Cl8 nanoclusters into micro-crystals. This enables the determination of emergent optoelectronic properties which resulted from long-range order in such assemblies. Compared to the same nanoclusters in glassy, polycrystalline ensembles, we find a 100-fold increase in the electric conductivity and charge carrier mobility as well as additional optical transitions. We show that these effects are due to a vanishing energetic disorder and a drastically reduced activation energy to charge transport in the highly ordered assemblies. This first correlation of structure and electronic properties by comparing glassy and crystalline self-assembled superstructures of atomically precise gold nanoclusters paves the way towards functional materials with novel collective optoelectronic properties.
Highlights
The collective properties of self-assembled nanoparticles with long-range order bear immense potential for customized electronic materials by design
Already implemented applications of self-assembled thin films range from lightemitting diodes (LED) over field-effect transistors (FET) to optical sensors[4]
Atomically precise, inorganic molecular clusters have been suggested as promising building blocks for customized electronic materials by design of their structure[10,11,12,13]
Summary
The collective properties of self-assembled nanoparticles with long-range order bear immense potential for customized electronic materials by design. Previous studies on Au-NC ensembles have yet either reported conductivity measurements of polycrystalline assemblies[25], along with the first observation of semiconducting properties[26], or the formation of highly ordered microcrystals[20,24,27,28]. To verify the crystallinity of self-assembled microcrystals, grazing-incidence small-angle X-ray scattering (GISAXS) measurements are performed, which is a common technique to investigate the structural properties of nanoparticle assemblies in thin films or at interfaces[33,34,35].
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
