Controllability of the Coulomb charging energy in close-packed nanoparticle arrays

Abstract

We studied the electronic transport properties of metal nanoparticle arrays, particularly focused on the Coulomb charging energy. By comparison, we confirmed that it is more reasonable to estimate the Coulomb charging energy using the activation energy from the temperature-dependent zero-voltage conductance. Based on this, we systematically and comprehensively investigated the parameters that could be used to tune the Coulomb charging energy in nanoparticle arrays. We found that four parameters, including the particle core size, the inter-particle distance, the nearest neighboring number, and the dielectric constant of ligand molecules, could significantly tune the Coulomb charging energy.

Ordered nanoparticle arrays interconnected by molecular linkers: electronic and optoelectronic properties

“…The phenomenon of Coulomb blockade relates to the Coulomb charging energy E c of a nanoparticle, which is defined as the energy needed to add an excess electron onto a neutral nanoparticle. 39 It relies on the fact that the zerovoltage conductance at high temperature follows a thermally activated Arrhenius behavior: g 0 p e ÀU/kBT , where U is an activation energy. 4,41,42 The relationship between V th and E c can be expressed as: V th = a  N  E c , where 0 o a o 0.5 is a prefactor determined by the lattice structure of the nanoparticle packing, and N is the number of nanoparticles along the current direction.…”

“…Theoretically, in the I-V curves of nanoparticle arrays at low temperature, there should exist a voltage threshold V th below which the current is suppressed. 39 Fig. 43,44 However, it is delicate to determine the threshold voltage from experimentally measured I-V curves.…”

“…45 There is a reliable way to determine the Coulomb charging energy in nanoparticle arrays. 39 This can be understood in terms of the increase of the dielectric constant of the surrounding environment. Duan et al have shown that the activation energy determined in the Arrhenius fitting is a good estimation for the Coulomb charging energy in nanoparticle arrays.…”

Solvent-mediated conductance increase of dodecanethiol-stabilized gold nanoparticle monolayers

“…In literature changes in conductance of nanoparticle monolayers after immersion in a solvent containing more conductive molecules are interpreted as an exchange of molecular ligands [3,5–6]. Our data showing a conductance increase by immersion in a pure solvent alone raise the question to what extent an exchange with more conductive molecules contributes to the overall increase in conductance.…”

“…Gold nanoparticles serve as conducting nodes and different molecules can bind to the gold nanoparticle using anchoring groups such as thiols or amines [3,9–10]. The conductance between neighboring nanoparticles depends on a multitude of factors including the conductivity of surrounding molecules, the type of bond between molecules and nanoparticles and the interparticle distance [3,5–6]. The conductivity of the entire network further depends on the percolation of charge carriers [11–12].…”