Chemical, Thermal, and Ultrasonic Stability of Hybrid Nanoparticles and Nanoparticle Multilayer Films

Gold nanoparticles stabilized by thiolates derived from normal and ω-functionalized alkane- and arenethiols (HS(CH 2 ) n CH 3, HS(CH 2 ) 10 COOH, HS(CH 2 ) 11 OH, HSC 6 H 4 NH 2, HSCH 2 CH 2 C 6 H 5, and HSCH 2 C 6 H 4 C(CH 3 ) 3 ) were synthesized. Differences in their chemical and ultrasonic stabilities were studied using UV−vis spectroscopy. The results showed that these stabilities of monolayer-protected nanoparticles were greatly influenced by the structure and functionality of the monolayer surrounding a nanoparticle core. The selective functionalization of the nanoparticle allowed us to prepare hybrid nanostructures (nanoparticle multilayer assemblies) with different compositions and functionalities. This paper also presents an investigation of the chemical, thermal, and ultrasonic treatments of these nanoparticle multilayer assemblies. The results suggest that the linkers used to build nanoparticle multilayer films govern the overall stability of hybrid nanostructures.