The key role of soft corona in the superlattice formation of CeO2 nanoparticles

Abstract

The fabrication of superlattices is nontrivial because nanoparticles are notoriously difficult to employ due to the complex nanoscale forces among them. An effective way to manipulate these nanoscale forces is to use a soft corona around the solid core. The soft corona can be engineered to alter the forces between nanoparticles—either attracting or repelling them, and thereby influence their self-assembly process. Here, a deep analysis is proposed on how amines of different lengths (C8 to C18) can influence the hierarchical superlattice organization of cerium oxide nanoparticles, from both structural and energetic perspectives, and the consequent optical properties. The aim is to demonstrate how it is possible to shift from disordered to ordered aggregates and how to obtain one structure instead of another by modulating the geometrical and energetic parameters of soft corona/solid core nanoparticles. The results show that organic coating plays a key role in the self-aggregation process of superlattices with advanced optical properties, thereby broadening the range of potential applications for nanoparticles.