Effect of Core Size on the Partition of Organic Solutes in the Monolayer of Water-Soluble Nanoparticles: An ESR Investigation.

The article demonstrates that the core size of metallic nanoparticles impart different solvating properties to the protective organic monolayers. It reports on the measurement of partition isotherms of an organic probe between an aqueous solution and the monolayer of water-soluble monolayer-protected gold clusters of different sizes. It argues that ESR spectroscopy is a simple and powerful tool to investigate the binding properties of nanoparticles that, are difficult to obtain by other techniques. Using ESR spectroscopy, it illustrates the monitoring of the partition of lipophilic nitroxides between the monolayer of water-soluble nanoparticles and bulk water.