Direct preparation of two-dimensional platelets from polymers enabled by accelerated seed formation

Abstract

Crystallization-driven self-assembly (CDSA) presents a facile method toaccess well-defined nanostructures. However, nanostructure preparationvia CDSA has been constrained by prolonged processing time andlimited throughput, primarily due to seed preparation and confinementto small batch scales. In turn, this limits the potential to scale up CDSAto enable application of the resultant particles. Here we report a rapidseed preparation method that drives uniform seed micelle formation bysupersaturating polymer solutions in a flow system. This leads to a largereduction in processing time, from a week down to minutes. Importantly,the modular flow cascade applied can integrate both seed preparation andliving CDSA, enabling end-to-end production of nanostructures directlyfrom polymers in 3 min. The attained throughput of 132 mg h−1 surpassesthat of other reported methods by orders of magnitude and, in turn,provides a step forward for the scaling-up of precision nanomaterials.