Cyclodextrin as a capturing agent for redundant surfactants on Ag nanoparticle surface in phase transfer process

High-yield phase transfer of hydrophilic mercaptosuccinic acid (MSA)-modified Ag nanoparticles into chloroform is readily attained using cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB) through electrostatic interaction. Increasing CTAB amount to a certain degree has achieved nearly complete phase transfer due to the sufficient formation of stoichiometric ion-pairs on particle surface. However, at high CTAB concentration, some unbonded CTA⁺ cations will be physically adsorbed on particle surface and enter chloroform layer simultaneously, which cannot be removed by simple water washing or centrifugation. By using β-cyclodextrin (CD) as a capturing agent, this portion of CTA⁺ cations can be adequately removed due to the possible inclusion function of CD. Upon removal of the unbonded CTAB, the monolayer formation of phase-transferred Ag nanoparticles at air–water interface presents improved two-dimensional (2D) orderliness owing to the more effective interdigitation among adjacent particles.