Self-assembled transparent conductive electrodes from Au nanoparticles in surfactant monolayer templates.

bottom-up approaches have emerged as promising alternatives for generation of organized nanostructures and electronic components. [ 4 ] Bottom-up techniques generally rely upon molecular self-assembly phenomena to produce defi ned structures that could be practically utilized. [ 5 , 6 ] Here, we describe a new bottom-up approach for construction of thin-fi lm TCEs through self-assembly of alkyl-coated gold nanoparticles (Au NPs) within surfactant monolayer templates at the air/water interface. The Au nanostructures could be successfully transferred onto solid transparent surfaces; subsequent annealing and gold enhancement yielded a wide-area network of interconnected conductive Au nanowires. The thin-fi lm electrodes exhibit high transparency, can be produced in varying length-scales and surface areas, and may be useful platforms for practical device applications. Figure 1 depicts the experimental scheme. We begin with deposition at the air/water interface and isothermal compression of mixed monolayers composed of pentanethiol-coated Au NPs, elaidic acid, and myristyl alcohol (MOH: Figure 1 a). Alkyl-coated Au NPs have been previously shown to form diverse 2D nanostructures on water surfaces through co-deposition of surfactant molecules or lipids. [ 7–9 ] The two surfactant molecules employed here exhibit important roles: MOH forms condensed monolayer domains (green areas in Figure 1 a). [ 10 ] Elaidic acid, on the other hand, is capable of solubilizing Au NPs at the air/water interface in the temperature the experiments were carried out. [ 5 ] Such