Monitoring Chemical Reactions with SERS-Active Ag-Loaded Mesoporous TiO2 Films
Monitoring chemical reactions that occur in small spaces or confined environments is challenging. Surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) spectroscopy offers the unique possibility to monitor spectral changes with high sensitivity and time resolution. Herein, we report the application of composite mesoporous TiO2 films loaded with Ag nanoparticles (NPs) to track in situ chemical processes in real time. In particular, the AgNPs@TiO2 system was employed to monitor two chemical reactions: one occurring on the Ag NPs surface and another taking place in the surrounding solution. In the first case, we monitored the decarboxylation reaction of 4-mercaptobenzoic acid on Ag NPs, which allowed us to…
Mild Homogeneous Synthesis of Gold Nanoparticles through the Epoxide Route: Kinetics, Mechanisms, and Related One‐Pot Composites
A new one-pot homogeneous methodology at room temperature to obtain Au nanoparticles (AuNP) on the basis of the epoxide route is presented. The proposed method takes advantage of the homogenous generation of OH- moieties driven by epoxide ring-opening, mediated by chloride nucleophilic attack. Once reached alkaline conditions, the reducing medium allows the quantitative formation of AuNP under well-defined kinetic control. A stabilizing agent, such as polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP) or cetyltrimethylammonium chloride (CTAC), is required to maintain the AuNP stable. Meanwhile their presence dramatically affects the reduction kinetics and pathway, as demonstrated by the evolution of the UV/Vis spe…
Gold recycling at laboratory scale: from nanowaste to nanospheres
The market for products based on nanotechnology, and with it the use of nanomaterials and the generation of nanowaste, increases day by day. Among the vast variety of nanomaterials available, gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) are among the most studied and applied in commercial products. This current situation requires both the development of recovery methods to reduce the amount of nanowaste produced, and new synthetic methods that allow the reuse of recovered gold for new nanomaterial production, keeping in mind both economical and ecological considerations. In this work, a methodology to recover gold from aqueous laboratory nanowaste and transform it into an aqueous HAuCl4 solution was develope…
Room temperature synthesis of lanthanum phosphates with controlled nanotexture as host for Ln(III) through the Epoxide Route
AbstractHerein, the Epoxide Route, a one-pot room temperature alkalinization method based on the reaction between a nucleophile and an epoxide, has been employed to synthesize LaPO4 in the form of a Rhabdophane phase. The intrinsic features of this synthetic approach allow the reaction to be followed by pH monitoring, making possible the identification of the different precipitation steps involved in the formation of the solid. Once demonstrated the effectiveness of this chemical methodology, the size and shape of the LaPO4 particles were controlled by varying the identity and proportion of the organic co-solvents employed to perform the reaction. By these means, crystalline particles with …