Related Experiment Video
Updated: Feb 2, 2026

Liquid-cell Transmission Electron Microscopy for Tracking Self-assembly of Nanoparticles
Published on: October 16, 2017
Chelation-assisted assembly of multidentate colloidal nanoparticles into metal-organic nanoparticles
1Department of Chemistry and Physiology and Functional Genomics, Center for Research at the Bio/Nano Interface, Health Cancer Center, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL 32611-7200, USA. tan@chem.ufl.edu.
Abstract:
We propose a chelation-assisted assembly of multidentate CNs into metal-organic nanoparticles (MONs). Multidentate CNs functionalized with coordination sites participate equally as organic linkers in MON construction, which is driven by chelation between metal ions and coordination sites. MONs assembled from Au nanoparticles display particle number- and size-dependent optical properties. In addition, the resulting CN-assembled MONs give evidence that assembly was dictated by the multidentate surface ligand rather than the size, shape or material of CNs. With this chelation-assisted strategy, it is possible to control the number of assembled CNs and build the connections between them.
Related Concept Videos
Colloids
Metal-Ligand Bonds
In these complexes, transition metals form coordinate covalent bonds, a kind of Lewis acid-base interaction in which both of the electrons in the bond are contributed by a donor (Lewis base) to an electron acceptor (Lewis acid). The Lewis acid in...
Colloids and Suspensions
Complexation Equilibria: The Chelate Effect
Colloidal precipitates
Protein Complex Assembly
Many viruses self-assemble into a fully functional unit using the infected host cell to...

