The purpose of this project is to create electrochemically-active nanoparticles (NPs) for the electrochemically-triggered assembly of NPs. NPs are functionalized with hydroquinone-terminated alkanethiol (H2Q-SH), which undergoes a reversible redox reaction to the corresponding benzoquinone. Previous methods to create electrochemically-active NPs include a place-exchange reaction in which H2Q-SH displaces thioctic acid (TA). Alternatively, AuNPs were functionalized with H2Q-SH and TA using a co-deposition method. The resulting AuNPs were characterized using UV-vis spectroscopy, dynamic light scattering, and cyclic voltammetry. However, these AuNPs did not display significant electrochemical activity, indicating insufficient functionalization with H2Q-SH. As a result, current work involves transferring AuNPs to ethanol for enhanced functionalization with H2Q-SH. In addition, amine-functionalized polystyrene spheres (PSs) are being used to create electrochemically active NPs. Sulfo-SMCC, a commercially available organic coupling agent, will link the PSs to the H2Q-SH.

Electrochemically active gold nanoparticles

243rd National Meeting (2012)

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