The work of this dissertation seeks to enhance the understanding of DNA-driven nanoparticle assembly and introduce kinetic routes to control mesoscale crystal habit and size. Chapter 1 describes the state of the art in the field of nanoparticle assembly and, specifically, DNA- mediated nanoparticle assembly, where the concept of a DNA-functionalized nanoparticle as a nanoscale programmable atom equivalentis first introduced in this dissertation. Chapter 2 describes the dominant forces that govern the interactions between PAEs using the mean-field approximation approach and investigate the role of repulsion during the crystallization process. Chapter 3 explores the role of heteroepitaxy and the impact of lattice mismatch on the growth of nanoparticle superlattice thin films. In Chapter 4, we show that DNA-mediated crystallization of two types of nanoparticles with different hydrodynamic radii generates highly anisotropic, hexagonal prism microcrystals with AB2 crystallographic symmetry. In addition to introducing a new type of crystal habit, we find that the interface kinetics control the formation of observed habit. Chapter 5 demonstrates how salt concentration can be used to control the attachment rate of nanoparticles during the crystallization process, resulting in single crystals at larger length scales. The final chapter summarizes the insights gained in Chapters 2-5 and provides brief details on other developments in single crystal engineering with DNA not covered in this thesis. As a whole, the work reported in this dissertation represents a significant step forward in understanding how the crystal habit is controlled in colloidal crystallization with DNA.

Last modified

• 11/25/2019

Creator

• So Young Eileen Seo

DOI

• https://doi.org/10.21985/n2-xvwr-8d95

Subject

• Chemistry

Keyword

• Single Crystal
• Nanoparticle
• Nucleation and Growth
• Crystallization
• , DNA
• Self-Assembly

Date created

• 2018-01-01

Resource type

• Dissertation

Rights statement

• In Copyright