For example, what is the role of the surfactant, the stabilizer, redundant, toluene, etc., and what it actually does in terms of its chemistry? I am using thiols as well to functionalize the particles and help explaining how these work will also be appreciated. I will be using the two-phase transfer method and will be synthesizing platinum nanoparticles.
Reagents have its own individual role in most of the nanoparticles synthesis. Most of the time surfactant may influence the nanoparticles size by adsorbing on certain facets of the nucleation site during initial growth and restrict its further growth. These surfactant may further act as a stabilizer also, for example if surfactant positive charge group is attached with nanoparticles surface then its negative end are free to make interaction with the solvent. Generally thiol functionalized particles have best dispersion in Tolune solvent due its best interaction with the thiol group.
I wish you will have now better idea. Hope done the question !!
I agree with the statement above. You can find more information on the synthesis of the nanoparticles in an article of LaMer (Journal of the American Chemical Society, 1950, 27, 4847-4854).
You can also use other ligands (surfactant/stabilizer) compared to thiols (e.g. long chain carboxylates, amines...), but depending on your nanoparticles the affinity to a certain ligand will be higher in comparison to another type of ligand. Mostly this is explained by the hard/soft acid/base principle. For example gold is more soft like thiols, thus the affinity of Au with thiol will be higher in comparison with carboxylates (will be the same for platinum particles). While metal oxides (ZrO2...) generally are considered hard, which means that the affinity will be higher with carboxylates.
Another article than can help you is of Whyman (J. Chem. Soc., Chem. Comm., 1994, 801-802), concerning the synthesis of thiol-derivatised Au nanoparticles in a two-phase system.
When I encounter this type of question I always think at possible reasons for posing them.
1. The author of the question wants to increase his/her RG score.
2. The author of the question does not have any knowledge in chemistry and he/she is doing experiments based on "nothing".
Claudio, I down voted your answer because, i) your answer accomplishes nothing, ii) you should know by posting questions RG score doesn't increase significantly, iii) obviously she is starting out in research -- if you can't help, don't deride, stay out.
Fatima, sending you a class note offline(check your RG inbox) that deals with fundamentals of nucleation, growth and how growth is limited by surface processes. The notes are not particularly related to gold nanoparticles, but I hope they will help you with general understanding.
I cannot stay out. I think that all researchers should have the obligation to improve the quality of the research.
A SIMPLE idea underpins science: “trust, but verify”. Results should always be subject to challenge from experiment. That simple but powerful idea has generated a vast body of knowledge. Since its birth in the 17th century, modern science has changed the world beyond recognition, and overwhelmingly for the better.
But success can breed complacency. Modern scientists are doing too much trusting and not enough verifying—to the detriment of the whole of science, and of humanity.
Too many of the findings that fill the academic ether are the result of shoddy experiments or poor analysis (see article). A rule of thumb among biotechnology venture-capitalists is that half of published research cannot be replicated.
Less questions and answers on RG and more experiments (and paper well written and …..replicable).
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