Mechanical and electrical properties of nanostructured ‘plastic metals’

Deformable, supraspherical (SS) aggregates of metal nanoparticles (NPs) connected by long-chain dithiol ligands self-assemble into nanostructured materials of macroscopic dimensions. These materials are both malleable/moldable at room temperature as well as electrically conductive. Upon gentle heating, they harden into polycrystalline metals. The paper discusses qualitative models that rationalize the mechanical and electrical properties of these unusual ‘plastic metals’.