Solvent-mediated conductance increase of dodecanethiol-stabilized gold nanoparticle monolayers.

ABSTRACT: Gold nanoparticle monolayers provide convenient templates to study charge transport in organic molecules beyond single junction techniques. Conductance is reported to increase by several orders of magnitude following immersion of alkanethiol-stabilized gold nanoparticle monolayers in a solution containing conjugated thiol-functionalized molecules. Typically, this observation is attributed to molecular exchange. Less attention has been paid to the role of the solvent alone. Here, we report on an increase in conductance of dodecanethiol-stabilized gold nanoparticle monolayers on Si/SiO₂ by an average factor of 36 and 22 after immersion in pure ethanol (EtOH) and tetrahydrofuran (THF), respectively. Analysis by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and small-angle X-ray scattering (SA

SUBMITTER: Reissner PA 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5238686 | biostudies-literature | 2016

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature