Regrowth of gold nanoparticles facilitated utilizing small molecules ligand for high stability and performance
writer：Minqiang Xia; Tuo Li; Yulu Ye; Yunbo Li
keywords：Small molecules Gold nanoparticles Charge transfer Catalytic Electrical conduction 2-Nitrophenol
source：期刊
specific source：Chemical Engineering Journal2025, 508, 161086
Issue time：2025年
The stability of gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) determined
structure–activity relationships are fundamental topics that have
garnered significant interest and attention. AuNPs were treated with
small molecules containing sulfur (S) and nitrogen (N) to regrow and
were filtered into thin films with heat treatment for the first time.
The results indicate that small molecules with S or N significantly
improve the stability of AuNPs, leading to enhanced electrical
conductivity and catalytic performance, especially in conversion of
2-nitrophenol. TEM images show that AuNPs regrew into larger
nanoparticles which were confirmed by the results of UV spectra. The
electrical conductivity was enhanced variously after treated small
molecules. Among them, the AuNPs film treated with thioacetamide
exhibited the highest conductivity at 4.6 Ω/sq. The time for catalytic
conversion of 2-nitrophenol was reduced after treated with small
molecules, with the AuNPs film treated with thiourea showing the
shortest time of 150 s, which is a significant reduction compared to the
other small molecules treated AuNPs film. At last, X-ray
photon-electron spectroscopy shows that the small molecules do not
obviously change chemical valence of AuNPs after treatment. This study
underscores the role of small molecules containing S and N in
stabilizing AuNPs, with significant potent for nanochemistry, materials
science, energy, and environment fields.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cej.2025.161086