FORMATION MECHANISMS OF MONOLAYER PROTECTED GOLD NANOPARTICLES: TOOLS FOR AN ATOM-BY-ATOM DESCRIPTION
Denis E. Bergeron
Mentor: Jeffrey W. Hudgens
Physical and Chemical Properties Division (838)
Chemical Science and Technology Laboratory
Office: Physics (221), Room B352
Mail Stop 8380
Tel: (301)975-8768
FAX: (301)869-4020
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Chemistry
Rational synthesis, toxicity, and environmental impact are all topics of extreme importance in nanoscience; they are also all topics of solution phase chemistry. The tools most commonly associated with nanoscience are surface-based techniques, and so a new approach is necessary for the treatment of solution phase nanoparticles. Using electrospray ionization to gently deliver ions from solution into a mass spectrometer, we can follow chemical processes involving nanoparticles with atom-by-atom precision. The formation of diphosphine-protected gold particles is selected as a model system, and the experimentally derived mechanistic details are compared with the results of ab initio molecular dynamics simulations. In this manner, we identify precursor and bottleneck ions, enabling a discussion of how the reaction conditions can be manipulated to achieve the rational synthesis of tailored particles.