Self-assembly of 2D nanosheets into 3D dendrites based on the organic small molecule ANPZ and their size-dependent thermal properties

A surfactant-assisted self-assembly technique was developed to prepare three-dimensional (3D) dendritic micro-/nanostructures of 2,6-diamino-3,5- dinitropyrazine (ANPZ). The resulting micro-/nanostructures exhibited perfect fractal features. A series of experiments indicated that the formation of the dendritic ANPZ microstructures was dominated by the process nucleation and growth → aggregation → further growth, which is similar to the growth process of inorganic dendrites. The influence of various experimental parameters on the morphology of final product was also examined, and it was found that the size and morphology of the final product can be easily controlled by adjusting experimental parameters. In addition, the ANPZ micro-/nanostructures exhibited a seemingly morphology-dependent thermal effect that was actually size-dependent and has the potential for use in energy-demanding microscale systems. This wet chemical route, which has been widely used in the synthesis of inorganic nanomaterials, will provide useful information for the design and fabrication of organic small-molecule micro-/nanostructures with novel morphologies.