Free-standing 2D nanorafts by assembly of 1D nanorods for biomolecule sensing

Ren Cai; Yaping Du; Dan Yang; Guohua Jia; Bowen Zhu; Bo Chen; Yifan Lyu; Kangfu Chen; Dechao Chen; Wei Chen; Lu Yang; Yuliang Zhao; Zhuo Chen; Weihong Tan

doi:10.1039/C9NR02636C

Free-standing 2D nanorafts by assembly of 1D nanorods for biomolecule sensing†

Ren Cai,^ab Yaping Du,^c Dan Yang,^d Guohua Jia,

^e Bowen Zhu,^d Bo Chen,^d Yifan Lyu,^af Kangfu Chen,^g Dechao Chen,

^e Wei Chen,

^e Lu Yang,^b Yuliang Zhao,^h Zhuo Chen

*^a and Weihong Tan

*^abf

Author affiliations

* Corresponding authors

^a Molecular Sciences and Biomedicine Laboratory (MBL), State Key Laboratory for Chemo/Biosensing and Chemometrics, College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering and College of Biology, Aptamer Engineering Center of Hunan Province, Hunan University, Changsha 410082, China
E-mail: tan@chem.ufl.edu, zhuochen@hnu.edu.cn

^b Department of Chemistry and Department of Physiology and Functional Genomics, Center for Research at the Bio/Nano Interface, Shands Cancer Center, UF Genetics Institute, McKnight Brain Institute, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL 32611-7200, USA
Fax: (+1)352-846-2410

^c School of Material Science and Engineering, Nankai University, Tianjin 300350, China

^d School of Materials Science and Engineering, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore

^e Nanochemistry Research Institute, Department of Chemistry, Curtin University, P.O. Box U1987, Perth, WA 6845, Australia

^f Institute of Molecular Medicine (IMM), Renji Hospital, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, and College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, China

^g Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida 32611-6250, USA

^h National Center for Nanoscience and Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China

Abstract

Novel materials from self-assembled nanocrystals hold great promise for applications ranging from inorganic catalysis to bio-imaging. However, because of the inherent anisotropic properties, it is challenging to assemble one-dimensional (1D) nanorods into higher-order structures (e.g. 2D sheets or 3D networks) without any support. Here, we have developed a facile strategy for the direct self-assembly of 1D nanorods into free-standing 2D nanorafts with lateral dimensions up to several micrometers. As a general approach, 2D nanorafts with diverse compositions, e.g. MgF₂, WO₂, CdS, ZnS, and ZnSe nanorafts, have been fabricated from the assembly of their 1D building blocks. More importantly, these nanorafts show high stability even when dispersed in different solvents, making them suitable for various applications. Because of their high porosity and strong adsorption capability, MgF₂ nanorafts were investigated to illustrate the collective advantages generated from the assembly platform. Moreover, flexibility in the composition and structure of the building blocks demonstrated in this work will lead to next generation materials with rich functionalities.

This article is part of the themed collection: Research selection from the NCNST

Nanoscale

Free-standing 2D nanorafts by assembly of 1D nanorods for biomolecule sensing†

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Free-standing 2D nanorafts by assembly of 1D nanorods for biomolecule sensing

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