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Evolution of the Ligand Shell Morphology during Ligand Exchange Reactions on Gold Nanoparticles
Author(s) -
Luo Zhi,
Hou Jing,
Menin Laure,
Ong Quy Khac,
Stellacci Francesco
Publication year - 2017
Publication title -
angewandte chemie international edition
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 5.831
H-Index - 550
eISSN - 1521-3773
pISSN - 1433-7851
DOI - 10.1002/anie.201708190
Subject(s) - ligand (biochemistry) , morphology (biology) , shell (structure) , nanoparticle , composition (language) , chemistry , materials science , nanotechnology , biology , composite material , paleontology , biochemistry , receptor , linguistics , philosophy
Ligand exchange reactions are used to achieve nanoparticles coated with a mixture of ligand molecules. Currently, nothing is known on the evolution of the morphology of the ligand shell during the reaction. Here, we use a recently developed method (based on MALDI‐TOF) to follow the evolution of the ligand shell composition and morphology during the reaction. We observe the expected evolution in composition and we find that the ligand shell starts as a random mixture and gradually evolves towards a patchy morphology. When the composition has reached a plateau (i.e. when the reaction is generally assumed to be finished), the ligand shell morphology keeps evolving for days, slowly approaching its equilibrium configuration.