Lyotropic liquid crystalline structure of organic dendron-modified Au nanorods

Abstract

Formation of nanoparticle(NP)-based three-dimensional periodic structures leads to new functions derived from the structure as well as unique properties of NPs. Modification of NPs with liquid-crystalline (LC) organic dendrons is a powerful method to introduce self-assembling and thermodynamic properties into NPs. Anisotropic-shaped Au nanorods (AuNRs) show unique optical absorption properties derived from both long and short axes. In this study, the dendron-modified AuNRs were developed by hybridization of AuNRs and LC dendrons. The resulting dendron-modified AuNRs show good miscibility to hydrocarbons. Here, the lyotropic liquid crystallinity of the dendron-modified AuNRs in dodecane has been investigated to control their optical properties.