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A Technique to Functionalize and Self-assemble Macroscopic Nanoparticle-ligand Monolayer Films onto Template-free Substrates
Published on: May 9, 2014
Multi-technique Characterization of Self-assembled Carboxylic Acid Terminated Alkanethiol Monolayers on Nanoparticle
Sirnegeda D Techane1, Lara J Gamble, David G Castner
1National ESCA and Surface Analysis Center for Biomedical Problems, Departments of Chemical Engineering and Bioengineering, University of Washington Box 351750, Seattle, WA 98195-1750, USA.
Abstract:
Gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) with 14, 25 and 40nm diameters were functionalized with different chain length (C6, C8, C11 and C16) carboxylic acid terminated alkanethiol self-assembled monolayers (COOH-SAMs). X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and time-of-flight secondary ion mass spectrometry (ToF-SIMS) were used to examine the changes in surface chemistry as both AuNP diameter and SAM chain length were varied. COOH-SAMs on flat gold surfaces were also examined and compared to the COOH-SAM on AuNP results. For a given surface, as the COOH-SAM chain length increased the XPS C/Au atomic ratio increased due to an increased number of carbon atoms per molecule in the overlayer and an increased attenuation of the Au substrate signal. For the C16 COOH-SAMs, as the size of AuNPs decreased the XPS C/Au atomic ratio and the apparent SAM thickness increased due to the increased curvature of the smaller AuNPs. The C16 COOH-SAMs on the flat Au had the lowest XPS C/Au atomic ratio and apparent SAM thickness of any C16 COOH-SAM covered Au surface. The effective take-off angles of the COOH-SAMs were also calculated by comparing the apparent thickness of COOH-SAMs with literature values. The effective take-off angle for C16 COOH-SAM on 14nm, 25nm and 40nm diameter AuNPs and flat Au were found to be 57°, 53°, 51° and 39°, respectively, for data acquired in a mode that collects a wide range of photoelectron take-off angles. The effective take-off angle for C16 COOH-SAM on 14nm AuNP and flat Au decreased to 52° and 0°, respectively, for data acquired in a mode that collects a narrow range of photoelectron take-off angles. The ToF-SIMS results showed similar changes in surface chemistry with COOH-SAM chain length and AuNP size. For example, the ratio of the sum of the C(1-4)H(x)O(y) positive ion intensities to the sum of the Au-containing positive ions intensities increased with decreasing AuNP size and increasing COOH-SAM chain length. Fourier transform IR spectroscopy in the attenuated total reflectance mode (FTIR-ATR) was used to characterize the crystallinity of the COOH-SAMs. The CH(2) stretching frequencies decreased with increasing COOH-SAM chain length on flat Au. The C16 COOH-SAM on the 14nm AuNPs exhibited a crystalline-like CH(2) stretching frequency. The size, size distribution, shapes and solution stability of AuNPs were investigated with transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and UV/VIS spectroscopy. As the average diameter of the AuNPs decreased the size distribution became narrower and the shape became more spherical.
