In an extensive tutorial review, Yuval Ofir, Vince Rotello, and colleagues describe progress in the field of polymer-mediated self-assembly of gold nanoparticles, including assembly methods as well as potential applications of the composite materials.
From their introduction: "Substantial effort has been devoted to organizing NPs in one, two and three dimensions. The ability to create NP networks, arrays and composites, however, depends on our ability to fully understand and control the assembly process of these materials. Incorporation of both 
bottom-up
(e.g., self-assembly) and top-down technologies (e.g., lithographic techniques) in patterning and controlling spatial assembly of NPs and their composites is a growing field of research. Synergy between these two approaches provides new directions for the creation of functional materials and devices."
Image reproduced by permission of the authors and The Royal Society of Chemistry from Yuval Ofir, Bappaditya Samanta and Vincent M. Rotello, Chem. Soc. Rev., 2008, 37, 1814-1825, DOI:10.1039/b712689c
