Investigation of the interactions between ligand-stabilized gold nanoparticles and polyelectrolyte multilayer films

Abstract

We examine the interactions between gold nanoparticles stabilized by the 4-(dimethylamino)pyridine (DMAP-AuNP) and various polyelectrolytes (PEs), both in solution and in layer-by-layer (LbL) assembled multilayer films. UV-vis spectrophotometry studies showed that the plasmon absorption band of the DMAP-AuNP in solution red-shifts and broadens in the presence of poly(sodium 4-styrenesulfonate) (PSS), poly(allylamine hydrochloride) (PAH), or poly(ethyleneimine) (PEI). This suggests that the polyanion PSS electrostatically associates with the nanoparticles, while PAH and PEI bond through the amine functionalities, despite having the same charge as the nanoparticles. In contrast, the addition o..