Comparing various methods of synthesis and analysis of gold nanoparticles

CHED 307

Frieda Dukesz, dukesz@yu.edu1, Anatoly I. Frenkel, frenkel@bnl.gov2, Malka R. Bromberg2, Qi Wang2, Neer Asherie, asherie@yu.edu3, Samuel Blass3, Miriam H. Rafailovich, miriam.rafailovich@sunysb.edu4, Yuan Sun, yuasun@ic.sunysb.edu4, and Joo Kang, kang@mrl.uiuc.edu5. (1) Department of Chemistry, Stern College for Women, Yeshiva University, 245 Lexington Ave., New York, NY 10016, (2) Department of Physics, Stern College for Women, Yeshiva University, 245 Lexington Avenue, New York, NY 10016, (3) Yeshiva College, Yeshiva University, (4) State University of New York at Stony Brook, NY, (5) Universiity of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Nanoparticles attract much interest due to their non-bulk properties, tunability, and enhanced chemical reactivity. Their specific size can be determined using transmission electron microscopy (TEM), extended x-ray absorption fine structure (EXAFS), or quasi-elastic light scattering (QLS). However, these techniques are sensitive to different aspects of nanoparticles. There have been no systematic studies examining how these techniques corroborate one another. Our project was to synthesize thiol-stabilized gold nanoparticles of various sizes and chain lengths, and analyze them through TEM, EXAFS, and QLS. The results were systematically evaluated. Results for TEM and EXAFS had an average relative discrepancy of 40%, with TEM measurements consistently larger than EXAFS data. This may be due to EXAFS measuring only the metal core, while TEM measures the ligand's sulfur as well. QLS data showed potential to provide important information about the thiol chain, as the QLS-obtained radius differed from the core radius by the thiol chain length.
 

Undergraduate Research Poster Session: Nanotechnology
11:00 AM-1:00 PM, Monday, April 7, 2008 Morial Convention Center -- Hall A, Poster

Division of Chemical Education

The 235th ACS National Meeting, New Orleans, LA, April 6-10, 2008