Issue 1, 2017

Ligand density quantification on colloidal inorganic nanoparticles

Abstract

Colloidal inorganic nanoparticles are being used in an increasingly large number of applications ranging from biological imaging to television displays. In all cases, nanoparticle surface chemistry can significantly impact particle physical properties, processing, and performance. The first step in leveraging this tunability is to develop analytical approaches to describe surface chemical features. Some of the most basic descriptors of particle surface chemistry include the quantity, identity, and arrangement of ligands appended to the particle core. Here, we review approaches to quantify molecular ligand densities on nanoparticle surfaces and consider fundamental barriers to the accuracy of this analysis including parameters such as dispersity in colloidal nanoparticle samples, particle–ligand interactions, and currently available analytical techniques. Techniques reviewed include widely studied methods such as optical, atomic, vibrational, and nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopies as well as emerging or niche approaches including electrospray-differential mobility analysis, pH-based methods, and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. Collectively, these studies elucidate surface chemistry architectures that accelerate both fundamental understanding of nanoscale physical phenomena and the implementation of these materials in a wide range of technologies.

Graphical abstract: Ligand density quantification on colloidal inorganic nanoparticles

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Critical Review
Submitted
30 sep. 2016
Accepted
17 nov. 2016
First published
30 nov. 2016

Analyst, 2017,142, 11-29

Ligand density quantification on colloidal inorganic nanoparticles

A. M. Smith, K. A. Johnston, S. E. Crawford, L. E. Marbella and J. E. Millstone, Analyst, 2017, 142, 11 DOI: 10.1039/C6AN02206E

To request permission to reproduce material from this article, 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 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