Published online by Cambridge University Press: 17 March 2011
This paper reports results of the characterizations of nanoparticle assembly formed via spontaneous core-shell and shell-shell reactivities at thiolate-capped gold nanoparticles. Gold nanoparticles of two different core sizes and thiols with carboxylic acid terminals are exploited as a model system. The reactivities involve covalent Au-thiolate bonding and non-covalent hydrogen-bonding with anisotropic linking character. We employed infrared reflection spectroscopy (IRS), atomic force microscopy (AFM) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) for the characterizations. While IRS provides structural assessment, TEM and AFM imaging measurements probe the morphological properties.