Ion shuttling between emulsion droplets by crown ether modified gold nanoparticles.

ABSTRACT: Selective unidirectional transport of barium ions between droplets in a water-in-chloroform emulsion is demonstrated. Gold nanoparticles (GNPs) modified with a thiolated crown ether act as barium ion complexing shuttles that carry the ions from one population of droplets (source) to another (target). This process is driven by a steep barium ion concentration gradient between source and target droplets. The concentration of barium ions in the target droplets is kept low at all times by the precipitation of insoluble barium sulfate. A potential role of electrostatically coupled secondary processes that maintain the electroneutrality of the emulsion droplets is discussed. Charging of the GNP metal cores by electron transfer in the presence of the Fe(ii)/Fe(iii) red

SUBMITTER: Kunstmann-Olsen C 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8168925 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature