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Electronic structure, magnetic properties, and microstructural analysis of thiol-functionalized Au nanoparticles: role of chemical and structural parameters in the ferromagnetic behaviour

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Abstract

Gold nanoparticles (NPs) have been stabilized with a variety of thiol-containing molecules in order to change their chemical and physical properties; among the possible capping systems, alkane chains with different lengths, a carboxylic acid and a thiol-containing biomolecule (tiopronin) have been selected as protecting shells for the synthesized NPs; the NPs solubility in water or organic solvents is determined by the protecting molecule. A full microstructural characterization of these NPs is presented in the current research work. It has been shown that NPs capped with alkanethiol chains have a marked ferromagnetic behaviour which might also be dependent on the chain length. The simultaneous presence of Au–Au and Au–S bonds together with a reduced particle diameter, and the formation of an ordered monolayer protective shell, have proved to be key parameters for the ferromagnetic-like behaviour exhibited by thiol-functionalized gold NPs.

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Acknowledgements

We wish to acknowledge the support of the ESRF and BM29 beamline staff. Financial support from the Spanish MEC (NAN2004-09125-C07) and “Junta de Andalucía” (Project P06-FQM-02254, group TEP217) is also acknowledged. E. Guerrero thanks the Spanish MEC for financial support.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Instituto de Ciencia de Materiales de Sevilla (CSIC-US), Av. Americo Vespucio 49, 41092, Sevilla, Spain

    Estefanía Guerrero, Miguel A. Muñoz-Márquez & Asunción Fernández

  2. Instituto de Magnetismo Aplicado (UCM-ADIF-CSIC), P.O. Box 155, 28230, Las Rozas, Madrid, Spain

    Enrique Fernández-Pinel, Patricia Crespo & Antonio Hernando

  3. Departamento de Física de Materiales, UCM, Av. Complutense s/n, 28040, Madrid, Spain

    Patricia Crespo & Antonio Hernando

Authors
  1. Estefanía Guerrero
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  2. Miguel A. Muñoz-Márquez
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  3. Enrique Fernández-Pinel
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  4. Patricia Crespo
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  5. Antonio Hernando
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  6. Asunción Fernández
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Miguel A. Muñoz-Márquez.

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Guerrero, E., Muñoz-Márquez, M.A., Fernández-Pinel, E. et al. Electronic structure, magnetic properties, and microstructural analysis of thiol-functionalized Au nanoparticles: role of chemical and structural parameters in the ferromagnetic behaviour. J Nanopart Res 10 (Suppl 1), 179–192 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11051-008-9445-5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11051-008-9445-5

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