Novel polymer-free iridescent lamellar hydrogel for two-dimensional confined growth of ultrathin gold membranes

Jian Niu, Dong Wang, Haili Qin, Xiong Xiong, Pengli Tan, Youyong Li, Rui Liu, Xuxing Lu, Jian Wu, Ting Zhang, Weihai Ni and Jian Jin ()
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Jian Niu: Suzhou Institute of Nano-Tech & Nano-Bionics, Chinese Academy of Sciences
Dong Wang: Suzhou Institute of Nano-Tech & Nano-Bionics, Chinese Academy of Sciences
Haili Qin: Suzhou Institute of Nano-Tech & Nano-Bionics, Chinese Academy of Sciences
Xiong Xiong: Suzhou Institute of Nano-Tech & Nano-Bionics, Chinese Academy of Sciences
Pengli Tan: Institute of Functional Nano & Soft Materials (FUNSOM) and Collaborative Innovation Center of Suzhou Nano Science and Technology, Soochow University
Youyong Li: Institute of Functional Nano & Soft Materials (FUNSOM) and Collaborative Innovation Center of Suzhou Nano Science and Technology, Soochow University
Rui Liu: Suzhou Institute of Nano-Tech & Nano-Bionics, Chinese Academy of Sciences
Xuxing Lu: Suzhou Institute of Nano-Tech & Nano-Bionics, Chinese Academy of Sciences
Jian Wu: Suzhou Institute of Nano-Tech & Nano-Bionics, Chinese Academy of Sciences
Ting Zhang: Suzhou Institute of Nano-Tech & Nano-Bionics, Chinese Academy of Sciences
Weihai Ni: Suzhou Institute of Nano-Tech & Nano-Bionics, Chinese Academy of Sciences
Jian Jin: Suzhou Institute of Nano-Tech & Nano-Bionics, Chinese Academy of Sciences

Nature Communications, 2014, vol. 5, issue 1, 1-7

Abstract: Abstract Hydrogels are generally thought to be formed by nano- to micrometre-scale fibres or polymer chains, either physically branched or entangled with each other to trap water. Although there are also anisotropic hydrogels with apparently ordered structures, they are essentially polymer fibre/discrete polymer chains-based network without exception. Here we present a type of polymer-free anisotropic lamellar hydrogels composed of 100-nm-thick water layers sandwiched by two bilayer membranes of a self-assembled nonionic surfactant, hexadecylglyceryl maleate. The hydrogels appear iridescent as a result of Bragg’s reflection of visible light from the periodic lamellar plane. The particular lamellar hydrogel with extremely wide water spacing was used as a soft two-dimensional template to synthesize single-crystalline nanosheets in the confined two-dimensional space. As a consequence, flexible, ultrathin and large area single-crystalline gold membranes with atomically flat surface were produced in the hydrogel. The optical and electrical properties were detected on a single gold membrane.

Date: 2014
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DOI: 10.1038/ncomms4313

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