Directing Gold Nanoparticles into Free-Standing Honeycomb-Like Ordered Mesoporous Superstructures

2D mesoporous materials fabricated via the assembly of nanoparticles (NPs) not only possess the unique properties of nanoscale building blocks but also manifest additional collective properties due to the interactions between NPs. In this work, reported is a facile and designable way to prepare free-standing 2D mesoporous gold (Au) superstructures with a honeycomb-like configuration. During the fabrication process, Au NPs with an average diameter of 5.0 nm are assembled into a superlattice film on a diethylene glycol substrate. Then, a subsequent thermal treatment at 180 degrees C induces NP attachment, forming the honeycomb-like ordered mesoporous Au superstructures. Each individual NP connects with three neighboring NPs in the adjacent layer to form a tetrahedron-based framework. Mesopores confined in the superstructure have a uniform size of 3.5 nm and are arranged in an ordered hexagonal array. The metallic bonding between Au NPs increases the structural stability of architected superstructures, allowing them to be easily transferred to various substrates. In addition, electron energy-loss spectroscopy experiments and 3D finite-difference time-domain simulations reveal that electric field enhancement occurs at the confined mesopores when the superstructures are excited by light, showing their potential in nano-plasmonic applications.