ISIS Neutron and Muon Source Data Journal

Structural characterization of organic coated ultrasmall gold nanoparticles by combined SAXS-SANS experiments

Abstract: Ultrasmall nanoparticles (usNPs) of noble metals like. Ag, Au, Pd, Pt, or Ir with high chemical stability and high specific surface area represent a broad field for applications in heterogeneous catalysis, imaging and biomedicine. Such usNPs are surface-functionalized either by sulfur-carrying ligands (cysteine, glutathione, peptides) or by azide-alkyne click chemistry for larger molecules (DNA oligomers). Due to the small size of the particles, the characterization of the nanoparticle shell is challenging because it cannot be analyzed by HRTEM due to lack of contrast. Only NMR spectroscopy can provide some information, either in the form of DOSY or from spectra of dispersed particles, showing broad NMR peaks. SAXS is very suitable for this type of nanoparticles but the high electron density of the core makes the surrounding shell almost invisible. For neutrons, on the other hand, the contrast is not tied to the atomic number and can depend heavily on isotope. Therefore, one can take advantage of the possibility of contrast variation for the study of the organic coating of the usNPs. A combined approach of SAXS and SANS will provide valuable data for the characterization of the nanoparticles' size, shape and coating details. After all, the state of the ligand shell (hydrated/solvated, expanded, mushroom-like etc) is still unknown, but it will determine any biological response to nanoparticles that are surface-functionalized with receptor ligands.

Principal Investigator: Professor Cristiano Luis Pinto de Oliveira
Experimenter: Ms Gabriel Braga Marques Teobaldo
Experimenter: Professor Matthias Christian Epple
Experimenter: Ms Augusto Cesar de Camargo Bandeira
Local Contact: Dr Leide Cavalcanti
Experimenter: Dr Oleg Prymak

DOI: 10.5286/ISIS.E.RB2520003

ISIS Experiment Number: RB2520003

Publisher: STFC ISIS Neutron and Muon Source

Data format: RAW/Nexus
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Data Citation

The recommended format for citing this dataset in a research publication is as:
[author], [date], [title], [publisher], [doi]

For Example:
Professor Cristiano Luis Pinto de Oliveira et al; (2026): Structural characterization of organic coated ultrasmall gold nanoparticles by combined SAXS-SANS experiments, STFC ISIS Neutron and Muon Source, https://doi.org/10.5286/ISIS.E.RB2520003

Data is released under the CC-BY-4.0 license.