Fabrication of complex hierarchical heterostructures with controlled luminescence via seeded self-assembly

The fabrication of complex hierarchical heterostructures with π-electronic nanomaterials has attracted the interest of many researchers because the functions and properties of the resulting nanomaterials are related to their length-size distribution. Here, a complex multi-dimensional hierarchical heterostructure created via a sequential 2D seeded self-assembly is reported using a series of small organic molecules (1–3). Interestingly, we first discovered that the amount of kinetically trapped off-pathway aggregates could affect the dimension of the heterostructure. The co-assembly method was used to develop seeds with controlled luminescence that changed from blue to yellow emission to increase the complexity of the hierarchical heterostructure. Different luminescent seeds can induce the formation of hierarchical heterostructures possessing different luminescence properties. This strategy can then be extended to fabricate other complex hierarchical heterostructures from small organic molecules.