Gold nanoparticles properties

Figure C2.17.13. A model calculation of the optical absorjDtion of gold nanocrystals. The fonnalism outlined in the text is used to calculate the absorjDtion cross section of bulk gold (solid curve) and of gold nanoparticles of 3 mn (long dashes), 2 mn (short dashes) and 1 mn (dots) radius. The bulk dielectric properties are obtained from a cubic spline fit to the data of [237]. The small blue shift and substantial broadening which result from the mean free path limitation are...

From a structural point-of-view the bulk metallic state, that is, fee lattice (with varying densities of defects such as twins and stacking faults) is generally established in gold nanoparticles of about 10 nm diameter and upwards. However, such particles still display many unusual physical properties, primarily as the result of their small size. Shrinking the size of gold particles has an important effect it increases both the relative proportion of surface atoms and of atoms of even lower coordination number, such as edge atoms [49] and these atoms in turn are relatively mobile and reactive. 

Elghanian, R., Storhoff J.J., Muck, R.C., Letsinger, R.L. and Mirkin, C.A. (1997) Selective colorimetric detection of polynucleotides based on the distance-dependent optical properties of gold nanoparticles. Science, 277, 1078-1081. 

The preparation and study of metal nanoparticles constitutes an important area of current research. Such materials display fascinating chemical and physical properties due to their size [62, 63]. In order to prevent aggregation, metal nanoparticles are often synthesized in the presence of ligands, functionalized polymers and surfactants. In this regard, much effort has focused on the properties of nanoparticles dispersed into LCs. In contrast, the number of nanoparticles reported that display liquid crystal behavior themselves is low. Most of them are based on alkanethiolate stabilized gold nanoparticles. 

In Section 2 the general features of the electronic structure of supported metal nanoparticles are reviewed from both experimental and theoretical point of view. Section 3 gives an introduction to sample preparation. In Section 4 the size-dependent electronic properties of silver nanoparticles are presented as an illustrative example, while in Section 5 correlation is sought between the electronic structure and the catalytic properties of gold nanoparticles, with special emphasis on substrate-related issues. 

Density Functional Theory (DFT) has shown that low-coordinated sites on the gold nanoparticles can adsorb small inorganic molecules such as O2 and CO, and the presence of these sites is the key factor for the catal5dic properties of supported gold nanoclusters. Other contributions, induced by the presence of the support, can provide parallel channels for the reaction and modulate the final efficiency of Au-based catalysts. Also these calculations extended for the adsorption of O and CO on flat and... 

Correlation has been suggested between the morphology, electronic structure and catalytic properties of supported gold nanoparticles with special attention to the role of the substrate/interface behaviour. 

Table 1. Properties of gold nanoparticles CmAuNP and CmAu NP/amines.

Daniel M-C, Astruc D (2004) Gold nanoparticles assembly, supramolecularchemistry, quantum-size-related properties, and applications toward biology, catalysis, and nanotechnology. Chem Rev 104 293-346... 

The branched polysaccharide dextran is assembled with alkanethiol-modified gold nanoparticles and the resulting nanocomposite is then functionalized to facilitate the specific binding of target biomolecules. This biorecognition process can be easily detected by particle plasmon resonance (PPR), based on the optical properties of gold nanoparticles [163]. 

In spite of such positive effects of the presence of ammonia during preparation, the particles sizes remain important on Au/FAU-2, comparable to particles previously described for similar Au/zeolites [1,2]. Noticeably, they are much bigger than expected from the insertion of the Au particles inside the pores. On the contrary, very small gold nanoparticles with a mean diameter of about 2 nm are obtained on the BEA support, that can be due to the textural properties and high external surface area of this support made... 

It is difficult to predict the effect of surface functionalization on the optical properties of nanoparticles in general. Surface ligands have only minor influence on the spectroscopic properties of nanoparticles, the properties of which are primarily dominated by the crystal field of the host lattice (e.g., rare-earth doped nanocrystals) or by plasmon resonance (e.g., gold nanoparticles). In the case of QDs, the fluorescence quantum yield and decay behavior respond to surface functionalization and bioconjugation, whereas the spectral position and shape of the absorption and emission are barely affected. 

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