Stability of the DMF-Protected Au Nanoclusters: Photochemical, Dispersion, and Thermal Properties

作者:Kawasaki Hideya*; Yamamoto Hiroko; Fujimori Hiroaki; Arakawa Ryuichi; Iwasaki Yasuhiko; Inada Mitsuru
来源:Langmuir, 2010, 26(8): 5926-5933.
DOI:10.1021/la9038842

摘要

We have reported the synthesis of dimethylformamide (DMF)-protected gold nanoclusters using a surfactant-free DMF reduction method. DMF-protected gold nanoclusters (Au NCs) are obtained without the formation or gold nanoparticles and bulk metals as byproducts using a hot injection process for the homogeneous reduction. The as-prepared DMF-protected Au NCs were a mixture of various-sized Au NCs with a cluster number of less than 20 including at least Au(8) and Au(13). The photoluminescence emission from Au(8) and Au(13) was confirmed in the photoluminescence spectra. The Au NCs are stabilized with DMF molecules through the interaction of amide groups of DMF with Au NCs, DMF-protected Au NCs in solution were found to have high thermal stability, high dispersion stability in various solvents, and high photochemical stability. The DMF-protected Au NCs dispersed well for at least a month in various solvents such its water, acid (pH 2), alkali (pH 12) and 0.5 M NaCl aqueous solution, and methanol without further surface modification. The thermal stability of ME-protected Au NCs was similar to 150 degrees C, which was comparable to that of thiolate-protected Au NCs. The photobleaching of Au NCs in water gradually occurred under UV light irradiation (356 nm, 1.3 mW/cm(2)) because of the photoinduced oxidation of Au NCs. After 8 h irradiation, the fluorescence intensity slowly decreased to similar to 50% of the maximum and to similar to 20% after 96 h under the present condition. compared to the photobleaching of CdSe semiconductor quantum dots. We also found that the fluorescence intensity remained to be about 30% of the maximum even in the presence of concentrated 30% H(2)O(2). These findings demonstrate that the photobleaching process under the UV irradiation is effectively suppressed for DMF-protected Au NCs.

  • 出版日期2010-4-20