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Borsley S, Edwards W, Mati IK, Poss G, Diez-Castellnou M, Marro N, Kay ER. A General One-Step Synthesis of Alkanethiyl-Stabilized Gold Nanoparticles with Control over Core Size and Monolayer Functionality. CHEMISTRY OF MATERIALS : A PUBLICATION OF THE AMERICAN CHEMICAL SOCIETY 2023; 35:6168-6177. [PMID: 37576587 PMCID: PMC10413864 DOI: 10.1021/acs.chemmater.3c01506] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/16/2023] [Indexed: 08/15/2023]
Abstract
In spite of widespread interest in the unique size-dependent properties and consequent applications of gold nanoparticles (AuNPs), synthetic protocols that reliably allow for independent tuning of surface chemistry and core size, the two critical determinants of AuNP properties, remain limited. Often, core size is inherently affected by the ligand structure in an unpredictable fashion. Functionalized ligands are commonly introduced using postsynthesis exchange procedures, which can be inefficient and operationally delicate. Here, we report a one-step protocol for preparing monolayer-stabilized AuNPs that is compatible with a wide range of ligand functional groups and also allows for the systematic control of core size. In a single-phase reaction using the mild reducing agent tert-butylamine borane, AuNPs that are compatible with solvents spanning a wide range of polarities from toluene to water can be produced without damaging reactive chemical functionalities within the small-molecule surface-stabilizing ligands. We demonstrate that the rate of reduction, which is easily controlled by adjusting the period over which the reducing agent is added, is a simple parameter that can be used irrespective of the ligand structure to adjust the core size of AuNPs without broadening the size distribution. Core sizes in the range of 2-10 nm can thus be generated. The upper size limit appears to be determined by the nature of each specific ligand/solvent pairing. This protocol produces high quality, functionally sophisticated nanoparticles in a single step. By combining the ability to vary size-related nanoparticle properties with the option to incorporate reactive functional groups at the nanoparticle-solvent interface, it is possible to generate chemically reactive colloidal building blocks from which more complex nanoparticle-based devices and materials may subsequently be constructed.
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Affiliation(s)
- Stefan Borsley
- EaStCHEM School of Chemistry, University of St Andrews, North Haugh, St Andrews KY16 9ST, U.K.
| | - William Edwards
- EaStCHEM School of Chemistry, University of St Andrews, North Haugh, St Andrews KY16 9ST, U.K.
| | - Ioulia K. Mati
- EaStCHEM School of Chemistry, University of St Andrews, North Haugh, St Andrews KY16 9ST, U.K.
| | - Guillaume Poss
- EaStCHEM School of Chemistry, University of St Andrews, North Haugh, St Andrews KY16 9ST, U.K.
| | - Marta Diez-Castellnou
- EaStCHEM School of Chemistry, University of St Andrews, North Haugh, St Andrews KY16 9ST, U.K.
| | - Nicolas Marro
- EaStCHEM School of Chemistry, University of St Andrews, North Haugh, St Andrews KY16 9ST, U.K.
| | - Euan R. Kay
- EaStCHEM School of Chemistry, University of St Andrews, North Haugh, St Andrews KY16 9ST, U.K.
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Gabellini C, Şologan M, Pellizzoni E, Marson D, Daka M, Franchi P, Bignardi L, Franchi S, Posel Z, Baraldi A, Pengo P, Lucarini M, Pasquato L, Posocco P. Spotting Local Environments in Self-Assembled Monolayer-Protected Gold Nanoparticles. ACS NANO 2022; 16:20902-20914. [PMID: 36459668 PMCID: PMC9798909 DOI: 10.1021/acsnano.2c08467] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/24/2022] [Accepted: 11/29/2022] [Indexed: 06/17/2023]
Abstract
Organic-inorganic (O-I) nanomaterials are versatile platforms for an incredible high number of applications, ranging from heterogeneous catalysis to molecular sensing, cell targeting, imaging, and cancer diagnosis and therapy, just to name a few. Much of their potential stems from the unique control of organic environments around inorganic sites within a single O-I nanomaterial, which allows for new properties that were inaccessible using purely organic or inorganic materials. Structural and mechanistic characterization plays a key role in understanding and rationally designing such hybrid nanoconstructs. Here, we introduce a general methodology to identify and classify local (supra)molecular environments in an archetypal class of O-I nanomaterials, i.e., self-assembled monolayer-protected gold nanoparticles (SAM-AuNPs). By using an atomistic machine-learning guided workflow based on the Smooth Overlap of Atomic Positions (SOAP) descriptor, we analyze a collection of chemically different SAM-AuNPs and detect and compare local environments in a way that is agnostic and automated, i.e., with no need of a priori information and minimal user intervention. In addition, the computational results coupled with experimental electron spin resonance measurements prove that is possible to have more than one local environment inside SAMs, being the thickness of the organic shell and solvation primary factors in the determining number and nature of multiple coexisting environments. These indications are extended to complex mixed hydrophilic-hydrophobic SAMs. This work demonstrates that it is possible to spot and compare local molecular environments in SAM-AuNPs exploiting atomistic machine-learning approaches, establishes ground rules to control them, and holds the potential for the rational design of O-I nanomaterials instructed from data.
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Affiliation(s)
- Cristian Gabellini
- Department
of Engineering and Architecture, University
of Trieste, 34127 Trieste, Italy
| | - Maria Şologan
- Department
of Chemical and Pharmaceutical Sciences and INSTM Trieste Research
Unit, University of Trieste, 34127 Trieste, Italy
| | - Elena Pellizzoni
- Department
of Chemical and Pharmaceutical Sciences and INSTM Trieste Research
Unit, University of Trieste, 34127 Trieste, Italy
| | - Domenico Marson
- Department
of Engineering and Architecture, University
of Trieste, 34127 Trieste, Italy
| | - Mario Daka
- Department
of Chemical and Pharmaceutical Sciences and INSTM Trieste Research
Unit, University of Trieste, 34127 Trieste, Italy
| | - Paola Franchi
- Department
of Chemistry “G. Ciamician”, University of Bologna, I-40126 Bologna, Italy
| | - Luca Bignardi
- Department
of Physics, University of Trieste, 34127 Trieste, Italy
| | - Stefano Franchi
- Elettra
Sincrotrone Trieste, 34149 Basovizza, Trieste, Italy
| | - Zbyšek Posel
- Department
of Informatics, Jan Evangelista Purkyně
University, 400 96 Ústí nad Labem, Czech Republic
| | | | - Paolo Pengo
- Department
of Chemical and Pharmaceutical Sciences and INSTM Trieste Research
Unit, University of Trieste, 34127 Trieste, Italy
| | - Marco Lucarini
- Department
of Chemistry “G. Ciamician”, University of Bologna, I-40126 Bologna, Italy
| | - Lucia Pasquato
- Department
of Chemical and Pharmaceutical Sciences and INSTM Trieste Research
Unit, University of Trieste, 34127 Trieste, Italy
| | - Paola Posocco
- Department
of Engineering and Architecture, University
of Trieste, 34127 Trieste, Italy
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Marro N, Suo R, Naden AB, Kay ER. Constitutionally Selective Dynamic Covalent Nanoparticle Assembly. J Am Chem Soc 2022; 144:14310-14321. [PMID: 35901233 PMCID: PMC9376925 DOI: 10.1021/jacs.2c05446] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Abstract
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The future of materials chemistry will be defined by
our ability
to precisely arrange components that have considerably larger dimensions
and more complex compositions than conventional molecular or macromolecular
building blocks. However, exerting structural and constitutional control
in the assembly of nanoscale entities presents a considerable challenge.
Dynamic covalent nanoparticles are emerging as an attractive category
of reaction-enabled solution-processable nanosized building block
through which the rational principles of molecular synthetic chemistry
can be extended into the nanoscale. From a mixture of two hydrazone-based
dynamic covalent nanoparticles with complementary reactivity, specific
molecular instructions trigger selective assembly of intimately mixed
heteromaterial (Au–Pd) aggregates or materials highly enriched
in either one of the two core materials. In much the same way as complementary
reactivity is exploited in synthetic molecular chemistry, chemospecific
nanoparticle-bound reactions dictate building block connectivity;
meanwhile, kinetic regioselectivity on the nanoscale regulates the
detailed composition of the materials produced. Selectivity, and hence
aggregate composition, is sensitive to several system parameters.
By characterizing the nanoparticle-bound reactions in isolation, kinetic
models of the multiscale assembly network can be constructed. Despite
ignoring heterogeneous physical processes such as aggregation and
precipitation, these simple kinetic models successfully link the underlying
molecular events with the nanoscale assembly outcome, guiding rational
optimization to maximize selectivity for each of the three assembly
pathways. With such predictive construction strategies, we can anticipate
that reaction-enabled nanoparticles can become fully incorporated
in the lexicon of synthetic chemistry, ultimately establishing a synthetic
science that manipulates molecular and nanoscale components with equal
proficiency.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nicolas Marro
- EaStCHEM School of Chemistry, University of St Andrews, North Haugh, St Andrews, KY16 9ST, U.K
| | - Rongtian Suo
- EaStCHEM School of Chemistry, University of St Andrews, North Haugh, St Andrews, KY16 9ST, U.K
| | - Aaron B Naden
- EaStCHEM School of Chemistry, University of St Andrews, North Haugh, St Andrews, KY16 9ST, U.K
| | - Euan R Kay
- EaStCHEM School of Chemistry, University of St Andrews, North Haugh, St Andrews, KY16 9ST, U.K
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