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Enabling Better Electrochemical Activity Studies of H 2 O‐Soluble Au Clusters by Phase Transfer and a Case Study of Lipoic‐Acid‐Stabilized Au 22
Author(s) -
Padelford Jonathan W.,
Wang Tanyu,
Wang Gangli
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
chemelectrochem
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.182
H-Index - 59
ISSN - 2196-0216
DOI - 10.1002/celc.201600110
Subject(s) - nanoclusters , electrochemistry , aqueous solution , chemistry , electron transfer , phase (matter) , cluster (spacecraft) , aqueous two phase system , redox , inorganic chemistry , organic chemistry , electrode , computer science , programming language
In stark contrast to organic systems, insight of the electrochemical properties is rather limited in aqueous solution for Au clusters, which have received extensive research attention recently. We demonstrate phase transfer as an efficient strategy to shuttle the Au nanoclusters between aqueous and organic solvents cyclically. The ability to phase transfer the Au clusters circumvents the limitations of potential window and high dielectric constant of water for electrochemistry studies. Two types of ligand molecular structures were employed with different hydrophilicity/hydrophobicity: mercaptosuccinic acid and lipoic acid, the latter featuring a longer hydrophobic portion and disulfide group (for Au bonding). The transfer efficiency was evaluated at different pHs. Additional redox activities from the Au 22 LA 12 cluster that could not be seen from aqueous measurements were successfully resolved. Reversible and controllable transfer between aqueous and organic phases is believed to be a generalizable approach that could enable broader applications.