Hierarchical assembly of ultranarrow alkylamine-coated ZnS nanorods: a synchrotron surface X-ray diffraction study.

The packing of anisotropic ultranarrow nanoparticles ( r <or= 0.5 nm) in Langmuir films was investigated for two types of nanoparticles: short ZnS wires coated with tetradecylamine and ZnS rods coated with octadecylamine. In situ grazing incidence small-angle X-ray scattering (GISAXS) revealed the formation, even under zero pressure, of ordered superstructures on the water surface consisting of alternating nanoparticles. A hierarchical "packing model" is proposed, based on GISAXS, transmission electron microscopy, thermogravimetric analysis, and grazing incidence X-ray diffraction of pure surfactant Langmuir films.