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Letter

Controlled Manipulation of Giant Hybrid Inorganic Nanowire Assemblies

Supporting Info

Fung Suong Ou^†^‡, Manikoth M. Shaijumon^‡^§ and Pulickel M. Ajayan*^‡^§

Department of Applied Physics, Rice University, Houston, Texas 77005, Department of Mechanical Engineering and Materials Science, Rice University, Houston, Texas 77005, and Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy, New York 12180

Nano Lett., 2008, 8 (7), pp 1853–1857

DOI: 10.1021/nl080407i

Publication Date (Web): May 29, 2008

†

Department of Applied Physics, Rice University.

‡

Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.

Department of Mechanical Engineering and Materials Science, Rice University.

* Corresponding authors, ouf@rice.edu and ajayan@rice.edu.

Abstract

The ultimate goal of nanotechnology is the design and fabrication of nanosize building blocks with multiple functionalities and their assembly into large-scale functional structures that can be controllably manipulated. Here we show that hybrid inorganic multisegmented nanowires, with hydrophobic carbon nanotube tails and hydrophilic metal nanowire heads, allow the assembly and manipulation of massive ordered structures in solution, reminiscent of the organic molecular micellar assembly. Further, properly designed assemblies can be manipulated using external stimuli such as magnetic field and light. The hybrid nanowires can have multiple segments including magnetic components, allowing the assembly to be manipulated by external magnetic field. The assembled structures can also be manipulated by modifying the hydrophobicity of the respective components via chemical functionalization and optical irradiation. This approach brings the concept of environment sensitive self-assembling nanomaterials closer to reality.

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