The structure adopted by lead sulfide nanoparticles
changes surprisingly often as they assemble to form ordered
superlattices. This is revealed by an experimental study that has
been conducted at DESY’s X-ray source PETRA III. A team led by the
DESY scientists Irina Lokteva and Felix Lehmkühler, from the
Coherent X-ray Scattering group headed by Gerhard Grübel, has
observed the self-organization of these semiconductor nanoparticles
in real time. The results have been published in the journal
Chemistry of Materials. The study helps to better understand the
self-assembly of nanoparticles, which can lead to significantly
different structures.
X-ray study reveals how lead sulphide particles
self-organise in real time
