Electrochemical Nucleation of Gold Nanoparticles in a Polymer Film at a Liquid−Liquid Interface

Abstract

Simultaneous nucleation of gold nanoparticles and polymerization of tyramine has been carried out at an immiscible electrolyte interface. By transferring the gold ion of tetraoctylammoniumtetracloroaurate (TOAAuCl(4)) from the organic to the aqueous phase, a fast homogeneous electron transfer from the tyramine monomer reduces the gold ion. Electropolymerization then proceeds, and gold nanoparticles form. The newly formed nanoparticles act as nucleation sites for the deposition of the oligomers/polymer (and possibly vice versa). This results in gold nanoparticles stabilized in a polytyramine matrix. The size of the nanoparticles is controlled by the concentration of oligomers/polymer in solution. The polymer nanoparticle composite film was analyzed with TEM, XPS, and AFM.

Simple Ion Transfer at Liquid|Liquid Interfaces

“…Studies on polarized ITIES are relevant to different fields, such as deposition of metallic nanoparticles [533][534][535][536][537][538][539][540][541][542][543][544][545][546][547][548][549] and polymerization [550][551][552][553][554][555][556] at liquid|liquid interfaces, ion and neutral species partition [342,349,[557][558][559][560] and electroassisted extraction [561,562]. Particular cases related to electroanalysis are discussed in this section.…”

Nanoscale characterization of gold nanoparticles created by in situ reduction at a polymeric surface

“…However, other parameters, such as the sample surface, can also influence the deposition process. Gold nanoparticles (Au NPs) have been used as nucleation sites for silver deposition (Knake et al, 2005;Taleb et al, 2011), and we study here the arrangement, size and depth of Au NPs on a surface and their influence on the deposition of silver NPs on the surface.…”

Electrochemical deposition of gold at liquid–liquid interfaces studied by thin organic film-modified electrodes

“…In this respect, the nanoparticles of the noble metals and various noble metal oxides are seen as crucial factors in improving the sensing properties of many electrodes towards important substrates. Numerous chemical methods have been developed for preparation of metal particles in a single phase [1][2][3] including those for controlling their surface morphology and properties [4][5][6]. Among a variety of experimental methodologies, electrochemistry provides numerous possibilities for preparation and the size control of the metal nanoparticles, as demonstrated, for instance, by Reetz and Halbig [7].…”