Premium
Interactions of Gold Nanoparticles with the Interior of Hollow Graphitized Carbon Nanofibers
Author(s) -
La Torre Alessandro,
Fay Michael W.,
Rance Graham A.,
del Carmen GimenezLopez Maria,
Solomonsz William A.,
Brown Paul D.,
Khlobystov Andrei N.
Publication year - 2012
Publication title -
small
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 3.785
H-Index - 236
eISSN - 1613-6829
pISSN - 1613-6810
DOI - 10.1002/smll.201102007
Subject(s) - materials science , colloidal gold , nanoparticle , carbon nanofiber , nanofiber , pentane , nanotechnology , supercritical fluid , carbon fibers , chemical engineering , adsorption , colloid , surface tension , carbon nanotube , composite material , organic chemistry , chemistry , composite number , engineering , physics , quantum mechanics
Interactions of free‐standing gold nanoparticles and hollow graphitized nanofibers in colloidal suspension are investigated, revealing the first example of the controlled arrangement of nanoparticles inside nano‐containers, as directed by their internal structure. The ordering is highly effective for small gold nanoparticles whose sizes are commensurate with the height of graphitic step‐edges in the graphitized carbon nanofibers and is less effective for larger gold nanoparticles. Studies aimed at understanding the role of the organic‐solvent surface tension, employed for the filling experiments, demonstrate that gold nanoparticles become preferentially anchored into the hollow graphitized carbon nanofibers under a mixture of pentane/CO 2 in supercritical conditions. It is shown that a three‐step cleaning procedure enables effective removal of gold nanoparticles adsorbed on the exterior surface of graphitized carbon nanofibers, while ordered arrays of encapsulated nanoparticles are retained.