Issue 9, 2025

Self-assembly processes of 2D Au(i)–S(CH2)2COOH lamellae

Abstract

Solving the assembled structure of Au(I)-thiolate linear coordination polymers has been a challenging task as they generally lack good crystallinity. This has prevented the elucidation of their assembly processes at the molecular level. In this paper, selected area electron diffraction (SAED) patterns of two-dimensional (2D) Au(I)–S(CH2)2COOH (Au(I)-MPA) lamellae are obtained by applying cryogenic transmission electron microscopy. The SAED patterns allow to propose a packing mode of Au(I)-MPA chains in the 2D structure by comparison with the crystal structure of Ag(I)-MPA solved from powder X-ray diffraction. Then, multi-step self-assembly processes to 2D lamellae via the aggregation and crystallization of an intermediate of 1D pre-assemblies are disclosed, which explains the difficulty in synthesize their large single crystals. Based on these results, 2D Au(I)-MPA lamellae with tunable sizes and degrees of crystallinity are synthesized by kinetic control of solvent composition and temperature.

Graphical abstract: Self-assembly processes of 2D Au(i)–S(CH2)2COOH lamellae

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
05 Dec 2024
Accepted
17 Jan 2025
First published
22 Jan 2025
This article is Open Access
Creative Commons BY-NC license

Nanoscale, 2025,17, 5270-5279

Self-assembly processes of 2D Au(I)–S(CH2)2COOH lamellae

S. Zhang, Z. Yu, A. Demessence, N. Guillou, S. Xu, H. Liu, Y. Fu, J. Zhang and M. Li, Nanoscale, 2025, 17, 5270 DOI: 10.1039/D4NR05118A

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