Issue 21, 2018

The size-selective interaction of key and lock nanocrystals driven by depletion attraction at the nanoscale

Abstract

In this article, we study the size-dependent interactions of quasi-spherical nanocrystals with voids of concave nanoparticles of complementary sizes and shapes. Experimental insights into a system with key and lock particles with smaller dimensions than 15 nm are presented, which provide evidence for key–lock specific interaction on this length scale. Using depletion attraction as a driving force, the key–lock interaction is shown to be reversible and independent of the material composition of the key particles. Poly(ethylene glycol) methacrylate was utilized as a depletion agent in toluene, the solvent of the studied key–lock system. For this work, a model system of specifically developed concave manganese oxide nanocrystals, synthesized via a cast–mold approach, in combination with highly monodisperse quasi-spherical gold nanocrystals, was investigated with transmission electron microscopy, optical UV/vis/NIR spectroscopy and powder X-ray diffraction. Size-dependent key–lock interactions are clearly identified to occur. For geometrical reasons, only key particles with smaller particle diameters than the voids of the complementary lock particles are able to enter the void. So the void diameter of the lock particles sets a diameter threshold for the key–lock interaction. Additionally, other key particles like silver, iron oxide and even core–shell structured gold-nickel sulfide nanocrystals show key-in-lock assemblies with concave manganese oxide nanocrystals. This behaviour might open up new routes for size-selective particle sensing.

Graphical abstract: The size-selective interaction of key and lock nanocrystals driven by depletion attraction at the nanoscale

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
06 Mär 2018
Accepted
28 Mär 2018
First published
03 Apr 2018
This article is Open Access
Creative Commons BY-NC license

Nanoscale, 2018,10, 9899-9907

The size-selective interaction of key and lock nanocrystals driven by depletion attraction at the nanoscale

D. Hinrichs, R. Himstedt and D. Dorfs, Nanoscale, 2018, 10, 9899 DOI: 10.1039/C8NR01893F

This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0 Unported Licence. You can use material from this article in other publications, without requesting further permission from the RSC, provided that the correct acknowledgement is given and it is not used for commercial purposes.

To request permission to reproduce material from this article in a commercial publication, please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

If you are an author contributing to an RSC publication, you do not need to request permission provided correct acknowledgement is given.

If you are the author of this article, you do not need to request permission to reproduce figures and diagrams provided correct acknowledgement is given. If you want to reproduce the whole article in a third-party commercial publication (excluding your thesis/dissertation for which permission is not required) please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

Read more about how to correctly acknowledge RSC content.

Social activity

Spotlight

Advertisements