| The organization of nanomaterials into 2- and 3-dimensional structures are interesting materials due to the potential for combined collective properties of the individual nanomaterials in both homogeneous and heterogeneous architectures. The electronic structure of these nanoparticle assemblies should be determined by the interaction of individual nanoparticle wave functions and the particle separation distance allowing for potential manipulation of the ensemble electronic properties by control of the nanoparticle size, separation distance, and connectivity of the nanomaterials. The forces controlling these assemblies include electrostatic interactions of the nanoparticle surface charge, steric repulsion energy terms arising from the surface passivating ligands, Van der Waals dispersion forces arising from core interactions between particles, and covalent binding energy forces arising from the binding affinities of functional groups for the nanoparticle surface. Careful manipulation of these forces by controlling the size, dispersity, and surface passivating ligands allows for the assembly of tailored homogeneous and heterogeneous nanoparticle architectonic structures. |
