Light‐driven self‐healing of nanoparticle‐based metamolecules

Metamolecules and crystals consisting of nanoscale building blocks offer rich models to study colloidal chemistry, materials science and soft matter. Here we demonstrate the self‐assembly of colloidal Ag nanoparticles into quasi‐one‐dimensional metamolecules with intriguing self‐healing ability in a linearly polarized optical field. By investigating the spatial stability of the metamolecules, we find that the origin of self‐healing is the inhomogeneous interparticle electrodynamic interactions enhanced by the formation of unusual nanoparticle dimers, which minimize the free energy of the whole structures. The equilibrium structures and self‐healing behaviors can be further tuned by modifying the electrical double layers surrounding the nanoparticles. Our results reveal a unique route to build self‐healing colloidal structures assembled from simple metal nanoparticles, which can potentially lead to reconfigurable plasmonic devices for photonic and sensing applications.

from A via a.sfakia on Inoreader http://bit.ly/2TyxTbP