In the Langmuir-Blodgett method, the nanoparticles are injected at air-water interphase in a special Langmuir-Blodgett Trough. The floating particles are compressed closer to each other with motorized barriers which allow to control the packing density of the particles. After compressing the particles to the desired packing density, they are transferred on a solid substrate using vertical (Langmuir-Blodgett) or horizontal (Langmuir-Schaefer) dipping to create a monolayer coating. Controlled multilayer coatings can be made repeating the dipping procedure multiple times.
The benefits of the Langmuir-Blodgett method include a firm control over the packing density and the layer thickness achieved that have been shown to be better than with other methods, the ability to use different shapes and materials of substrates and particles and the possibility to characterize the particle layer during deposition for example a Brewster Angle Microscope. As a disadvantage, a successful Langmuir-Blodgett deposition requires optimization of multiple measurement parameters such as dipping speed, temperature and dipping packing density.