Nanoparticle chains and Preparation Thereof

Abstract

Fabrication and arrangement of nanoparticles into one-dimensional linear chains is achieved by successive chemical reactions, each reaction adding one or more nanoparticles by building onto exposed, unprotected linker functionalities. Optionally, protecting groups may be used to control and organize growth. Nanoparticle spheres are functionalized in a controlled manner in order to enable covalent linkages. Functionalization of nanoparticles is accomplished by either ligand exchange or chemical modification of the terminal functional groups of the capping ligand. Nanoparticle chains are obtained by a variety of connectivity modes such as direct coupling, use of linker molecules, and use of linear polymeric templates. In particular, a versatile building block system is obtained through controlled monofunctionalization of nanoparticles.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A method for creating a multiple-nanoparticle assembly in a controlled fashion by synthesizing nanoparticle linker ligand building blocks, the method comprising the steps of:
 providing a plurality of nanoparticle precursors;   providing a plurality of ligand precursors;   providing a plurality of linker moiety precursors; and   reacting the nanoparticle precursors, the ligand precursors, and the linker moieties to form a plurality of nanoparticle linker ligand building blocks, each nanoparticle linker ligand building block comprising a nanoparticle attached to at least one ligand, each ligand having at least one linker arm.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising the step of reacting at least one ligand linker arm of a nanoparticle linker ligand building block with a linker arm of a ligand attached to another nanoparticle linker ligand building block, thereby forming an assembly of multiple nanoparticles joined by the ligands. 
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 2 , wherein the step of reacting at least one ligand linker arm of a nanoparticle linker ligand building block is initiated by removing at least one protective group wrapping at least one of the nanoparticles. 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the step of reacting the nanoparticle precursors, the ligand precursors, and the linker moieties is initiated by removing at least one protective group wrapping at least one of the nanoparticles. 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising the step of performing additional reactions in a step-wise manner until nanoparticle linker ligand building blocks of a desired size and configuration are obtained. 
     
     
         6 . A nanoparticle linker ligand building block synthesized according to the method of  claim 5 . 
     
     
         7 . The nanoparticle linker ligand building block of  claim 6 , wherein the nanoparticle linker ligand building block takes the form of a nanoparticle chain. 
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 2 , further comprising the step of performing additional linker arm reactions in a step-wise manner until a multiple-nanoparticle assembly of desired size and structure is obtained. 
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 8 , wherein the multiple-nanoparticle assembly is a nanoparticle chain. 
     
     
         10 . A multiple-nanoparticle assembly synthesized by the method of  claim 8 . 
     
     
         11 . The multiple-nanoparticle assembly of  claim 10 , wherein the multiple-nanoparticle assembly is a nanoparticle chain. 
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein at least one ligand comprises a reactive chemical moiety.