Nanoparticle-based crystal growth via multistep self-assembly

Abstract

Metal crystals are assumed to form through a combined process of Ostwald ripening and oriented attachment. Our experiments and simulations, however, indicate that metal crystals are grown in a multistep self-assembly process with metal nanoparticles as basic building blocks. The shapes of the intermediate dendritic structures are determined by the geometric and energetic features of the nanoparticles. © 2013 The Royal Society of Chemistry.