Morphology and depletion force-based large-scale self-assembly of nanocubes on surface
Abstract
Self-assembling nanoparticles is a highly efficient and facile way to form functional nano-, micro- and macrostructures. However, currently available methods lack precision and controllability in size, shape and composition, suffer from poor reproducibility and scalability, and require complex steps and expensive materials. Here, we present the uniform morphology-induced and depletion force-directed nanoparticle assembly on surface (MIDAS) method with gold nanocubes (AuNCs). Using this approach, morphology-sensitive depletion forces trigger shape-selective flocculation and assembly of the AuNCs with uniform size and shape. Importantly, the surface roughness-controlled substrate drives the large-scale formation of AuNC-assembled monolayers (2D AuNAMs) or three-dimensional AuNC-assembled multilayers (3D AuNAMs) in a highly specific manner without any complex ligand modification or preparation steps. Lattice-gas modeling and kinetic Monte Carlo simulations show the depletion force is the key parameter determining supercrystal morphology and corroborate the experimental findings. This work establishes a generalizable nanoparticle assembly mechanism and demonstrates the broad applicability of the MIDAS strategy for scalable fabrication and patterning of 2D and 3D nanoparticle architectures.
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BibTeX
@misc{lee2026morphology,
title = {{Morphology and depletion force-based large-scale self-assembly of nanocubes on surface}},
author = {Yeonhee Lee and Seungsang Cha and Yuna Kwak and Nicholas Juntunen and Grant M. Rotskoff and Jwa-Min Nam},
howpublished = {arXiv},
year = {2026},
month = sep,
doi = {10.48550/arxiv.2609.09761},
eprint = {2609.09761},
archivePrefix = {arXiv},
url = {https://arxiv.org/abs/2609.09761},
}
RIS
TY - UNPB
TI - Morphology and depletion force-based large-scale self-assembly of nanocubes on surface
AU - Yeonhee Lee
AU - Seungsang Cha
AU - Yuna Kwak
AU - Nicholas Juntunen
AU - Grant M. Rotskoff
AU - Jwa-Min Nam
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/09/09
PB - arXiv
DO - 10.48550/arxiv.2609.09761
UR - https://arxiv.org/abs/2609.09761
AB - Self-assembling nanoparticles is a highly efficient and facile way to form functional nano-, micro- and macrostructures. However, currently available methods lack precision and controllability in size, shape and composition, suffer from poor reproducibility and scalability, and require complex steps and expensive materials. Here, we present the uniform morphology-induced and depletion force-directed nanoparticle assembly on surface (MIDAS) method with gold nanocubes (AuNCs). Using this approach, morphology-sensitive depletion forces trigger shape-selective flocculation and assembly of the AuNCs with uniform size and shape. Importantly, the surface roughness-controlled substrate drives the large-scale formation of AuNC-assembled monolayers (2D AuNAMs) or three-dimensional AuNC-assembled multilayers (3D AuNAMs) in a highly specific manner without any complex ligand modification or preparation steps. Lattice-gas modeling and kinetic Monte Carlo simulations show the depletion force is the key parameter determining supercrystal morphology and corroborate the experimental findings. This work establishes a generalizable nanoparticle assembly mechanism and demonstrates the broad applicability of the MIDAS strategy for scalable fabrication and patterning of 2D and 3D nanoparticle architectures.
ER -