Madiha Khalid, Natalie Wasio, and Krisanu Bandyopadhyay. University of Michigan-Dearborn, Dearborn, MI
Synthesis of metal nanoparticles with controlled size immobilized on solid support has seen remarkable growth due to their different potential applications. Although different synthesis strategies, like direct deposition-precipitation or surface-capping methods are explored for achieving a specific size range for these nanostructures; factors controlling size, shape, and interparticle spacing as well as their structure-activity relationship are still poorly understood. Thus, there is a considerable interest for investigating a general preparative route to generate two dimensional arrays of aggregation-resistant metal nanoparticles. Functionalized monolayer assemblies at the solid surfaces can act as nano-reactors to generate nanoparticles from the entrapped metal ions. The present work deals with the organized assemblies different monolayer templates to generate various metal nanoparticles like gold, silver and platinum for electro-catalytic applications. The present research also provides the understanding of the effect of reaction conditions to control the structure of resulting metal nanoparticles. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and Atomic force microscopy (AFM) are used to monitor the chemical and structural development of these nanostructures. This research provides a simple route to prepare a stable and catalytically active surface immobilized metal nanoparticle array with controllable morphology and high monodispersity on different surfaces.