Translational and Rotational Diffusion Coefficients of Gold Nanorods Dispersed in Mixtures of Water and Glycerol by Polarized Dynamic Light Scattering

Characterization of the two-dimensional length and diameter distributions of gold nanorods by size exclusion chromatography

Access to complex multidimensional property distributions of nanoparticle systems is indispensable for the understanding of their synthesis, processing and application in modern production technologies. Plasmonic gold nanorods are a system of particular interest due to their shape-dependent localized surface plasmon resonance. In this study, we show how the optical back coupling technique, previously developed for the analysis of sedimentation coefficient-resolved extinction spectra derived from analytical ultracentrifugation experiments, can be transferred to standard laboratory equipment, namely size exclusion chromatography. The optical back coupling method utilizes the unique spectral extinction of plasmonic nanoparticles such as gold nanorods and other geometries combined with their hydrodynamic properties to determine full size and shape distributions. Our technique opens up a simple and easy-to-use characterization platform that requires very little sample volume and provides multidimensional access to length, diameter, aspect ratio, volume and surface area distributions of plasmonic nanoparticles in one single experiment. We characterize a variety of gold nanorods of different aspect ratios and validate our results by complementary scanning transmission electron microscopy experiments. Finally, we provide an outlook on how this approach can be developed further.

Heterodyne dynamic light scattering for the characterization of particle dispersions

Particle self-diffusivities in unimodal and bimodal aqueous dispersions are characterized by dynamic light scattering (DLS) applying a heterodyne detection scheme. For unimodal dispersions close to infinite dilution, it could be evidenced that pure homodyne conditions cannot be realized, leading to an increasing underestimation of diffusivity with a decreasing concentration. Even for bimodal dispersions and neglecting any local oscillator field, the coherent superposition of scattered light from different particle species hinders a clear assignment of the measured signals and their evaluation for diffusivity. In this case, the impact of a cross term on the determined diffusivities cannot be neglected. The results emphasize that the use of a heterodyne detection scheme in DLS experiments is a key aspect for an accurate determination of particle diffusivities in low-concentrated unimodal and bimodal dispersions.

Diffusion of gold nanoparticles in porous silica monoliths determined by dynamic light scattering

HYPOTHESIS

The applicability of the dynamic light scattering method for the determination of particle diffusivity under confinement without applying refractive index matching was not adequately explored so far. The confinement effect on particle diffusion in a porous material which is relevant for particle chromatography has also not yet been fully characterized.

EXPERIMENTS

Dynamic light scattering experiments were performed for unimodal dispersions of 11-mercaptoundecanoic acid-capped gold nanoparticles. Diffusion coefficients of gold nanoparticles in porous silica monoliths were determined without limiting refractive index matching fluids. Comparative experiments were also performed with the same nanoparticles and porous silica monolith but applying refractive index matching.

FINDINGS

Two distinct diffusivities could be determined inside the porous silica monolith, both smaller than that in free media, showing a slowing-down of the diffusion processes of nanoparticles under confinement. While the larger diffusivity can be related to the slightly slowed-down diffusion of particles in the bulk of the pores and in the necks connecting individual pores, the smaller diffusivity might be related to the diffusion of particles near the pore walls. It shows that the dynamic light scattering method with a heterodyne detection scheme can be used as a reliable and competitive tool for determining particle diffusion under confinement.

Non-Gaussian, transiently anomalous, and ergodic self-diffusion of flexible dumbbells in crowded two-dimensional environments: Coupled translational and rotational motions

We employ Langevin-dynamics simulations to unveil non-Brownian and non-Gaussian center-of-mass self-diffusion of massive flexible dumbbell-shaped particles in crowded two-dimensional solutions. We study the intradumbbell dynamics of the relative motion of the two constituent elastically coupled disks. Our main focus is on effects of the crowding fraction ϕ and of the particle structure on the diffusion characteristics. We evaluate the time-averaged mean-squared displacement (TAMSD), the displacement probability-density function (PDF), and the displacement autocorrelation function (ACF) of the dimers. For the TAMSD at highly crowded conditions of dumbbells, e.g., we observe a transition from the short-time ballistic behavior, via an intermediate subdiffusive regime, to long-time Brownian-like spreading dynamics. The crowded system of dimers exhibits two distinct diffusion regimes distinguished by the scaling exponent of the TAMSD, the dependence of the diffusivity on ϕ, and the features of the displacement-ACF. We attribute these regimes to a crowding-induced transition from viscous to viscoelastic diffusion upon growing ϕ. We also analyze the relative motion in the dimers, finding that larger ϕ suppress their vibrations and yield strongly non-Gaussian PDFs of rotational displacements. For the diffusion coefficients D(ϕ) of translational and rotational motion of the dumbbells an exponential decay with ϕ for weak and a power-law variation D(ϕ)∝(ϕ-ϕ^{★})^{2.4} for strong crowding is found. A comparison of simulation results with theoretical predictions for D(ϕ) is discussed and some relevant experimental systems are overviewed.

Two-dimensional Brownian motion of anisotropic dimers

We study the two-dimensional motion of colloidal dimers by single-particle tracking and compare the experimental observations obtained by bright-field microscopy to theoretical predictions for anisotropic diffusion. The comparison is based on the mean-square displacements in the laboratory and particle frame as well as generalizations of the self-intermediate scattering functions, which provide insights into the rotational dynamics of the dimer. The diffusional anisotropy leads to a measurable translational-rotational coupling that becomes most prominent by aligning the coordinate system with the initial orientation of the particles. In particular, we find a splitting of the time-dependent diffusion coefficients parallel and perpendicular to the long axis of the dimer which decays over the orientational relaxation time. Deviations of the self-intermediate scattering functions from pure exponential relaxation are small but can be resolved experimentally. The theoretical predictions and experimental results agree quantitatively.

Experimental and theoretical investigation of the photothermal effect in gold nanorods

In this work, gold nanorods (GNRs) were synthesized using a seed-mediated route and their photothermal properties were investigated experimentally as well as theoretically.