Understanding the Formation of the Self-Assembly of Colloidal Copper Nanoparticles by Surfactant: A Molecular Velcro

Figure 5

Self-assembly model of the ccNPs. Illustration of the interaction between AscAcDen and CTAB below CMC to form the ccNPs with subsequent addition of Cu. The enlarged pictures show the CTAB located on the AscAcDen and the Cu distributed from the surface into the deeper region. The interactions between the ccNPs were made by a molecular velcro with CTAB tail forming AccNPs. For a better visualization of the structures size relationships were not considered in the molecular ratio.