Directed coassembly of oriented PbS nanoparticles and monocrystalline sheets of alkylamine surfactant

We demonstrate control over the orientation of PbS nanoparticles by way of directed assembly, which in turn affects the crystal structure of alkylamine surfactants such as octadecylamine (ODA, C ₁₈H ₃₇NH ₂) and hexadecylamine (HDA, C ₁₆H ₃₃NH ₂). This directed assembly method results in the arrangement of PbS nanoparticles with a well-defined epitaxial orientation on lamellar alkylamine sheets, which undertake a new crystal structure to accommodate these relations. Understanding these surfactant-nanoparticle inter-relations is very instrumental in understanding surfactant-assisted nanoparticle synthesis and assembly.