Analytical Ultracentrifugation (AUC) is frequently used to determine the particle sizes of nanocrystals and biological objects such as proteins. We report on the effects of particle size, particle shape and ligand length on the sedimentation speed of nanocrystals. Combining diffusion coefficients and sedimentation speed allows almost unambiguous determination of the hydrodynamic size of the particle.<br/><br/>However, we show that ligands introduce complexities into the analysis that render particle size determination more complex than traditionally assumed. Ligand solvent interactions play a strong role in these systems and determine the colloid stability. Solvent intercalation is found to be strongly size dependent. In the cases where the core particle size and density are known a priori, it becomes possible to use AUC to study the ligand density and length around the nanocrystals.

Sedimentation of nanocrystals in different solvents studied by analytical ultracentrifugation

255th National Meeting (2018)

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