Reversible Supracolloidal Self-Assembly of Cobalt Nanoparticles to Hollow Capsids and Their Superstructures

| openaire: EC/FP7/291364/EU//MIMEFUN The synthesis and spontaneous, reversible supracolloidal hydrogen bond-driven self-assembly of cobalt nanoparticles (CoNPs) into hollow shell-like capsids and their directed assembly to higher order superstructures is presented. CoNPs and capsids form in one step upon mixing dicobalt octacarbonyl (Co2CO8) and p-aminobenzoic acid (pABA) in 1,2-dichlorobenzene using heating-up synthesis without additional catalysts or stabilizers. This leads to pABA capped CoNPs (core ca. 5nm) with a narrow size distribution. They spontaneously assemble into tunable spherical capsids (d≈50-200nm) with a few-layered shells, as driven by inter-nanoparticle hydrogen bonds th…