Mechanistic investigation into the spontaneous linear assembly of gold nanospheres
Type
ArticleAuthors
Yang, MiaoxinChen, Gang
Zhao, Yunfeng

Silber, Georg
Wang, Yong
Xing, Shuangxi
Han, Yu

Chen, Hongyu
KAUST Department
Advanced Membranes and Porous Materials Research CenterBiological and Environmental Sciences and Engineering (BESE) Division
Chemical Science Program
Nanostructured Functional Materials (NFM) laboratory
Physical Science and Engineering (PSE) Division
Date
2010Permanent link to this record
http://hdl.handle.net/10754/561534
Metadata
Show full item recordAbstract
Understanding the mechanism of nanoparticle self-assembly is of critical significance for developing synthetic strategies for complex nanostructures. By encapsulating aggregates of Au nanospheres in shells of polystyrene-block- poly(acrylic acid), we prevent the dissociation and aggregation typically associated with the drying of solution samples on TEM/SEM substrates. In our study of the salt-induced aggregation of 2-naphthalenethiol-functionalized Au nanospheres in DMF, the trapping of the solution species under various experimental conditions permits new insights in the mechanism thereof. We provide evidence that the spontaneous linear aggregation in this system is a kinetically controlled process and hence the long-range charge repulsion at the "transition state" before the actual contact of the Au nanospheres is the key factor. Thus, the charge repulsion potential (i.e. the activation energy) a nanosphere must overcome before attaching to either end of a nanochain is smaller than attaching on its sides, which has been previously established. This factor alone could give rise to the selective end-on attachment and lead to the linear assembly of originally isotropic Au nanospheres. © 2010 the Owner Societies.Citation
Yang, M., Chen, G., Zhao, Y., Silber, G., Wang, Y., Xing, S., … Chen, H. (2010). Mechanistic investigation into the spontaneous linear assembly of gold nanospheres. Physical Chemistry Chemical Physics, 12(38), 11850. doi:10.1039/c0cp00127aSponsors
The authors thank Ministry of Education, Singapore (ARC 27/07 and 13/09) for financial support.Publisher
Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC)ae974a485f413a2113503eed53cd6c53
10.1039/c0cp00127a