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On the surface: Mixed monolayers, which on flat surfaces phase-separate into randomly shaped domains, spontaneously form ordered rings of alternating composition when assembled around the core of a monolayer-protected gold nanoparticle (see figure). It is shown that it is possible to use infrared spectroscopy, a simple and common technique, to prove the existence of these phase-separated domains on nanoparticles.
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Centrone et al. (2007) studied this question.
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