Publication
The integration of inorg. nanocrystals as building units into mesoscale architectures yields materials whose structure is controllable on at., nano, and meso length scales providing a foundation for understanding how system-level functional properties emerge. We assembly nanocrystals into thin film electrodes by chem. displacing the insulating org. ligands coating their surfaces to leave exposed coordination sites at which block copolymer templating agents dynamically adsorb [1]. Through selection of the nanocrystal and polymer building blocks, the crystallite size and shape, the mesopore dimensions, and the inorg. wall thickness are all tunable. As a result, electrochem. properties can be correlated with structure on multiple length scales to det. design rules for high performance electrodes. In one example, the shape and size of anatase titania nanocrystals are correlated with performance characteristics of lithium ion battery electrodes. Nanorod-based mesoporous films are found to exhibit minimal loss in charge capacity out to at least 1000 cycles.[1] R. Buonsanti, et al. Nano Lett. 12 (2012), 3872.
Lei Zhang, Kangning Zhao, Rui Xia