Jill Millstone

Metal-Ligand Chemistry in Multimetallic Nanoparticle Synthesis and Performance

Small molecule ligand chemistry is used to mediate the incorporation and distribution of metals in and on discrete, colloidal nanoparticle substrates. Specifically, we examine the case of late d transition metals in Au and Pt hosts. The resulting structures are characterized by a wide variety of methods including NMR spectroscopy, electron microscopy, and photoelectron spectroscopy techniques. These results provide mechanistic platforms for the development of nanoscale alloys and other bimetallic architectures promising for a wide variety of applications ranging from light-driven catalysis to covert signaling. Specifically, we demonstrate that nanoparticle ligand chemistry may be used to access previously unobserved mixtures of metals such as continuously tunable Au-Co composition ratios, unique distributions of metals at the surface of a colloidal particle, as well as composition-tunable optoelectronic features. 

Marbella, L. M. and Millstone, J. E. “NMR Techniques for Noble Metal Nanoparticles” Chem. Mater. 2015, ASAP.

Straney, P. J.; Marbella, L. E.; Andolina, C. M.; Nuhfer, N. T.; Millstone, J.E. “Decoupling mechanisms of platinum deposition on colloidal gold nanoparticle substrates” J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2014, 136, 7873.

Andolina, C. M, Dewar, A. C., Smith, A. M., Marbella, L. E., Millstone, J. E. “Photoluminescent Gold–Copper Nanoparticle Alloys with Composition-Tunable Near-Infrared Emission” J. Am. Chem. Soc., 2013, 135, 5266.