Maria A. G. Soler

Abstract:

The assembly of nanoobjects or "building blocks" already displaying useful functions, leads to new generations of multifunctional nanomaterials with interesting fundamental properties, as well as promising applications in energy conversion, storage devices, and chemical sensors. Moreover, bottom-up approaches with advantages of cost effective, large area fabrication, no-limitation on substrate type or shape, simple processes and automation facilities, such as the layer-by-layer (LbL), allow designing of all-organic and organic/inorganic hybrid multilayers with nanometric control over morphology and architecture. Resulting nanohybrid structures not only combine attractive functionalities of each component but also show synergetic characteristics. The LbL technique is based on the sequential adsorption of ultrathin multilayered films of nanoobjects (conjugated polymers, proteins, clays and minerals, DNA, carbon nanotubes, graphene, and metal or metal oxide nanoparticles), from their colloidal solutions to solid surfaces. This talk will summarize new initiatives that have been more recently proposed for colloidal nanoparticles and respective arrays with polyelectrolytes, in either mono and multilayered LbL structures. As a main role, the LbL processing has enabled one to control the volume fraction and spatial distribution of nanoparticles within the multilayers, which in turn permits one to reach synergistic effects and pre-designed end properties. For example, the charge transport within such films is sensitive to nanoparticle-polyelectrolyte interfaces that can be precisely controlled by physicochemical parameters of the LbL assembly. Applications leading to future developments of capacitors electrodes and chemical sensors will be presented and discussed.