Direct visualization of ligands on gold nanoparticles in a liquid environment.
Adrián Pedrazo-TardajosNathalie ClaesDa WangAna Sánchez-IglesiasProloy NandiKellie JenkinsonRobin De MeyerLuis M Liz-MarzánDries van ThourhoutPublished in: Nature chemistry (2024)
The interactions between gold nanoparticles, their surface ligands and the solvent critically influence the properties of these nanoparticles. Although spectroscopic and scattering techniques have been used to investigate their ensemble structure, a comprehensive understanding of these processes at the nanoscale remains challenging. Electron microscopy makes it possible to characterize the local structure and composition but is limited by insufficient contrast, electron beam sensitivity and the requirement for ultrahigh-vacuum conditions, which prevent the investigation of dynamic aspects. Here we show that, by exploiting high-quality graphene liquid cells, we can overcome these limitations and investigate the structure of the ligand shell around gold nanoparticles and at the ligand-gold interface in a liquid environment. Using this graphene liquid cell, we visualize the anisotropy, composition and dynamics of ligand distribution on gold nanorod surfaces. Our results indicate a micellar model for surfactant organization. This work provides a reliable and direct visualization of ligand distribution around colloidal nanoparticles.
Keyphrases
- gold nanoparticles
- electron microscopy
- ionic liquid
- reduced graphene oxide
- walled carbon nanotubes
- room temperature
- induced apoptosis
- molecular docking
- magnetic resonance
- silver nanoparticles
- stem cells
- carbon nanotubes
- bone marrow
- computed tomography
- convolutional neural network
- escherichia coli
- mass spectrometry
- contrast enhanced
- cystic fibrosis
- high speed
- molecular dynamics simulations