Tailoring the surface chemistry of
gold nanorods is a key factor
for successful applications in biology, catalysis, and sensing. Here,
we report on the use of the diazonium salt chemistry for the functionalization
of gold nanorods enabling the formation of strongly attached organic
layers around the gold cores. The precise nature of the interface
between the gold surface and the diazonium-derived aryl layers was
probed by XPS, ToF-SIMS, SERS, and DFT. It was shown that the CTAB
surfactant was partially exchanged by the diazonium salt which dediazonizes
spontaneously to form Au–C covalent bonds with the surface.
Interestingly, the silver used during the synthesis of gold nanorods
and still present at their surface appears to be also involved in
the grafting mechanism with Ag–C covalent bonds detected by
ToF-SIMS. From this result, it is clear that the interfacial properties
and reactivity of gold nanorods synthesized by the silver(I)-assisted
seed mediated growth approach are strongly influenced by the presence
of silver.
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