Patterning of magnetic bimetallic coordination nanoparticles of Prussian blue derivatives by the Langmuir-Blodgett technique

We report a novel method to prepare patterns of nanoparticles over large areas of the substrate. This method is based on the adsorption of the negatively charged nanoparticles dispersed in an aqueous subphase onto a monolayer of the phospholipid dipalmitoyl-l-α-phosphatidylcholine (DPPC) at the air-water interface. It has been used to prepare patterns of nanoparticles of Prussian blue analogues (PBA) of different size (K(0.25)NiFe(CN)(6)](0.75) (NiFe), K(0.25)NiCr(CN)(6)](0.75) (NiCr), K(0.25)NiCo(CN)(6)](0.75) (NiCo), Cs(0.4)CoCr(CN)(6)](0.8) (CsCoCr), and Cs(0.4)CoFe(CN)(6)](0.9) (CsCoFe)). The behavior of DPPC monolayer at the air-water interface in the presence of the subphase of PBA nanoparticles has been studied by the compression isotherms and Brewster angle microscopy (BAM) images. Atomic force microscopy (AFM) of the transferred films on mica substrates shows that patterns of the nanoparticles are observed for a 10(-4) M concentration of the subphase, based on the nanoparticle precursors, at surface pressures between 1 and 6 mN/m and transfer velocities from 10 to 80 mm/min. Vertical, horizontal, or tilted fringes of the nanoparticles with respect to the transfer direction can be obtained depending on the transfer velocity and surface pressure.