Controlling Structure Formation of Polymer Brush/Gold Nanoparticle Composites by Ion-Specific Effects

Nanotechnology is abundant in numerous applications of our daily life. However, as the large variety of applications increases in complexity and specificity, the demand of tailored and individually structured solutions grows constantly. Therefore, processes that allow flexible fabrication with a fixed set of variables attract increasing interest. One realisation relies on driving the system into the desired structure via a series of trapped states. We aim to explore a model process for designing composite materials: controlling the structure formation of a gold nanoparticle assembly in a pre-formed polymer matrix. The model stimulus is presented by the immersion of the composite material in a salt solution. Thereby, different salts (ion types) induce different nanoparticle structures. The observed property is the vertical structure (perpendicular to the surface) inside the material.