Abstract
Organization of uniform objects into periodic structures can be found in many natural systems, such as atomic and molecular solids, opals, sponges and bacterial colonies — self-assembly is the fundamental phenomenon that generates structural organization on all scales [1]. In this chapter we discuss the structures spontaneously formed by nanoparticles which attracted significant interest from different branches of science and technology. The progress in colloidal synthesis of inorganic nanomaterials enabled preparation of different materials (metals, semiconductors, magnetic and ferroelectric materials) in the form of uniform nanometer-size crystals with amazing levels of size and shape control [2]. Nowadays colloidal synthesis allows for creation of nanostructures where composition, size, shape and connectivity of multiple parts of a multicomponent structure can be tailored in an independent and predictable manner (Fig. 1). In many nanoscale materials size and shape control provides additional degrees of freedom for designing physical and chemical properties. Thus, the effect of quantum confinement allows fine-tuning of the optical and electronic properties of semiconductor nanoparticles through varying particle size [3]. Exchange-biased ferromagnetism [4], size-dependent magnetic and catalytic properties of sub-20 nm particles are all examples of how material properties can be tailored by size and shape engineering at the nanoscale [5], [6].
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Shevchenko, E.V., Talapin, D.V. (2008). Self-assembly of semiconductor nanocrystals into ordered superstructures. In: Rogach, A.L. (eds) Semiconductor Nanocrystal Quantum Dots. Springer, Vienna. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-211-75237-1_5
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-211-75237-1_5
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