| Affiliation: | 1. Department of Physics, City University of Hong Kong, 83 Tat Chee Avenue, Kowloon, Hong Kong SAR, China;2. Department of Physics, City University of Hong Kong, 83 Tat Chee Avenue, Kowloon, Hong Kong SAR, China City University of Hong Kong Shenzhen Research Institute, 8 Yuexing 1st Road, Gaoxin District, Shenzhen, China;3. Department of Materials Science and Engineering, City University of Hong Kong, 83 Tat Chee Avenue, Kowloon, Hong Kong SAR, China;4. Department of Chemistry, The University of Hong Kong, Pokfulam Road, Hong Kong SAR, China;5. Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Advanced Catalytic Materials and Technology, School of Petrochemical Engineering, Changzhou University, Changzhou, 213164 China;6. Materials Sciences Division, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, 1 Cyclotron Road, Berkeley, CA 94720 USA |
| Abstract: | Nanoparticles (NPs) transfer is usually induced by adding ligands to modify NP surfaces, but aggregation of NPs oftentimes hampers the transfer. Here, we show that aggregation during NP phase transfer does not necessarily result in transfer failure. Using a model system comprising gold NPs and amphiphilic polymers, we demonstrate an unusual mechanism by which NPs can undergo phase transfer from the aqueous phase to the organic phase via a single-aggregation-single pathway. Our discovery challenges the conventional idea that aggregation inhibits NP transfer and provides an unexpected pathway for transferring larger-sized NPs (>20 nm). The charged amphiphilic polymers effectively act as chaperons for the NP transfer and offer a unique way to manipulate the dispersion and distribution of NPs in two immiscible liquids. Moreover, by intentionally jamming the NP-polymer assembly at the liquid/liquid interface, the transfer process can be inhibited. |
