Water-Solubilized Aminoclay-Metal Nanoparticle Composites and Their

Water-solubilized aminoclay-metal nanoparticle composites and their novel properties 

Received 24th November 2006, Accepted 22nd December 2006 First published as an Advance Article on the web 9th January 2007 DOI 10.1039/b617198b 

Nanoparticles of metals such as Au, Ag, Pd and Pt embedded in exfoliated sheets of aminociays of the type R8Si8Mgs0lfi-(OH)4, where R = CH2CH2NH2 are entirely water soluble. These sheets of the composite come to the organic-aqueous interface on addition of alkane thiols to the aqueous layer. 

In the present study the property of the aminociays wherein protonation of the amino groups in water is accompanied by exfoliation has been exploited.15 Thus metal nanoparticle composites formed by the exfoliated aminoclay sheets by carrying out the reduction of metal precursors in the presence of the clay have been investigated. Besides being entirely water soluble, the exfoliated sheets of aminoclay-Au nanoparticle composites move to the organic/aqueous interface in the presence of an alkanethiol. 

Chemistry and Physics of Materials Unit and DST Unit on Nanoscience, Jawuharlal Nehru Centre for Advanced Scientific Research, Bangalore, 560064, India. E-mail c.nrrao Jncasr.ac.in Fax +91-080-22082760 

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