Gold decoration of silica by decomposition of aqueous gold(iii) hydroxide at low temperatures.

The decomposition of gold hydroxide to give metallic gold is known to take place around 300 °C in dry environments. However, little information about the gold hydroxide stability in wet environments has been recorded. Here, we present experimental evidence which shows that aqueous/water-enriched gold(iii) hydroxide colloids decompose spontaneously to form gold nanoparticles at temperature values above the freezing point of water. Based on this reaction, we developed a method to decorate silica spheres with gold nanoparticles by precipitation and decomposition of gold(iii) hydroxide onto the silica surface in wet media by a simple one-pot/one-step protocol. The silica|gold nanostructures are prepared in high yield and with a low level of by-products.

Morphological Evolution of Noble Metal Nanoparticles in Chloroform: Mechanism of Switching on/off by Protic Species.

The morphological stability/morphological reshaping of noble metal nanoparticles are studied experimentally in order to unravel the chemical mechanisms lying beneath. Gold and silver nanoparticles (AuNPs and AgNPs, respectively) formed in chloroformic environment are used, as model synthetic systems, to study phenomena of morphological change. The morphological evolution of NPs that follows their formation, is characterized by spectroscopy (UV-Visible, Raman and FTIR) and TEM (Transmission Electron Microscopy). The change of NP morphology involves the increase of the average NP size and the broadening of size distribution, in a close resemblance with the effect characteristically obtained from the Ostwald ripening. The effect of the poor solvating properties of chloroform in stabilizing small charged species (H+, Ag+, Au+) as well as the principle of electroneutrality of matter are analyzed in order to formulate a feasible reaction scheme consisting of a three-step processes: the generation of soluble intermediary species by corrosion of nanoparticles, the diffusion of intermediary species from one nanoparticle to another, and the re-deposition process involving the reduction of intermediary species. This basic reaction scheme is used as hypothesis to plan and perform experiments, which reveal that molecular oxygen dissolved in the dispersive medium can drive NP corrosion, however, protic species are also required as co-reactant. The polarity of the hydrogen bond and the ligand properties of the anions produced by deprotonation are feature of the protic species that enable/disable the corrosion and, in turn, the NP morphological evolution.

Density functional theory study of the adsorption of alkanethiols on Cu(111), Ag(111), and Au(111) in the low and high coverage regimes.

The structure, the surface bonding, and the energetics of alkanethiols adsorbed on Cu(111), Ag(111), and Au(111) surfaces were studied under low and high coverages. The potential energy surfaces (PES) for the thiol/metal interaction were investigated in the absence and presence of externally applied electric fields in order to simulate the effect of the electrode potential on the surface bonding. The electric field affects the corrugation of the PES which decreases for negative fields and increases for positive fields. In the structural investigation, we considered the relaxation of the adsorbate and the surface. The highest relaxation in a direction perpendicular to the surface was observed for gold atoms, whereas silver atoms presented the highest relaxation in a plane parallel to the surface. The surface relaxation is more important in the low coverage limit. The surface bonding was investigated by means of the total and projected density of states analysis. The highest ionic character was observed on the copper surface whereas the highest covalent character occurs on gold. This leads to a strong dependence of the PES with the tilt angle of the adsorbate on Au(111) whereas this dependence is less pronounced on the other metals. Thus, the adsorbate-relaxation and the metal-relaxation contributions to the binding energy are more important on gold. The adsorption of thiols on gold was investigated on the 111 surface as well as on a surface with gold adatoms in order to elucidate the effect of thiols on the surface diffusion of gold. The CH(3)CH(2)S radical adsorbs ontop of the gold adatom. The diffusional barrier of the CH(3)CH(2)SAu species is lower than that for a bare gold adatom and is also lower than that for the bare thiol radical. The adsorption of the molecular species CH(3)SH and CH(3)CH(2)SH was also investigated on Au(111). They adsorb via the sulfur atom ontop of a gold atom. On the other hand, the adsorption of the alkanethiol radicals on the perfect 111 surfaces occurs on the face centered cubic (fcc)-bridge site in the low coverage limit for all metals and shifts toward the fcc site at high coverage on copper and silver.

Study of human serum albumin-TiO(2) nanocrystalline electrodes interaction by impedance electrochemical spectroscopy.

The adsorption of human serum albumin (HSA) onto nanocrystalline TiO(2) electrodes was studied by electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) in function of pH and electrode potential. The characterization and physico-chemical properties of the TiO(2) electrode were investigated by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), UV-photoelectron spectroscopy (UPS), cyclic voltammetry and capacitance measurements. The impedance response of the particulate TiO(2) electrode/protein interface was fitted using an equivalent circuit model to describe the adsorption process. The adsorbed protein layer, which is formed as soon as the protein is injected into the solution and becomes in contact with the electrode, was investigated as a function of electrode potential and solution pH. The measurements were performed under pseudo-steady-state and steady-state conditions, which gave information about the different states of the system. With the pseudo-steady state measurements, it was possible to determine two rate constants of the protein adsorption process, which correspond to two different states of the protein. The shortest one was associated with the first contact between the protein and the substrate and the second relaxation time, with the protein suffering an structural rearrangement due to the interaction with the TiO(2) electrode. It was detected that at sufficiently long times (approx. 1 h, where the system was under steady state conditions), a quasi-reversible protein adsorption mechanism was established. The measurements performed as a function of frequency under steady-state conditions, an equivalent circuit with a Warburg element gave the better fitting to data taken at -0.585 V closer to the oxide flat band potential and it was associated with protein diffusion. Experimental results obtained at only one frequency as a function of potential could be fitted to a model that takes into account non-specific and probable specific protein adsorption, which renders to be potential- and pH-dependent. Low capacity values were obtained in the whole potential range, which were measured in the presence and in the absence of the protein layer. The capacity dependence on potential and pH were associated with the generation of surface states on TiO(2). A surface state concentration of 4.1x10(18) cm(-2) was obtained by relating the parallel capacitance with oxide surface states arising from the protein-oxide interaction.