Abstract
Nanoparticles in solution interact with their surroundings via hydration shells. Although the structure of these shells is used to explain nanoscopic properties, experimental structural insight is still missing. Here we show how to access the hydration shell structures around colloidal nanoparticles in scattering experiments. For this, we synthesize variably functionalized magnetic iron oxide nanoparticle dispersions. Irrespective of the capping agent, we identify three distinct interatomic distances within 2.5 Å from the particle surface which belong to dissociatively and molecularly adsorbed water molecules, based on theoretical predictions. A weaker restructured hydration shell extends up to 15 Å. Our results show that the crystal structure dictates the hydration shell structure. Surprisingly, facets of 7 and 15 nm particles behave like planar surfaces. These findings bridge the large gap between spectroscopic studies on hydrogen bond networks and theoretical advances in solvation science.
Highlights
Nanoparticles in solution interact with their surroundings via hydration shells
Different diffusion components of the hydration layers around SnO2 and TiO2 nanoparticles had been extracted from quasi-elastic neutron scattering (QENS) experiments and were correlated to distinct hydration layers observed with molecular dynamics (MD) simulations[12]
iron oxide nanoparticle (IONP) sizes were determined using transmission electron microscopy (TEM), dynamic light scattering and SAXS
Summary
Nanoparticles in solution interact with their surroundings via hydration shells. the structure of these shells is used to explain nanoscopic properties, experimental structural insight is still missing. The study of iron oxide nanoparticle (IONP)—water interfaces has a long history of experimental and theoretical investigations, since IONP are most frequently applied in the form of aqueous dispersions and as such are surrounded by bound water molecules. They are an important material in a range of fields spanning medicine as magnetic resonance contrast agents[15,19,20], waste water treatment[21] and catalysis[22]. This study paves the way to greater atomistic structural insight in solvation science
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