Single-Particle Electrochemical Imaging Provides Insights into Silver Nanoparticle Dissolution at the Solution-Solid Interface.

Abstract

Dissolution of nanoparticles is an environmental interfacial process that affects the transformation of nanoparticles. Understanding the dissolution processes of nanoparticles is important to predict their fate in the aquatic environment. However, studying nanoparticle dissolution kinetics is still challenging since dissolution is usually coupled with nanoparticle aggregation. Here, we probed the dissolution process of Ag nanoparticles at the single-particle level by surface plasmon resonance microscopy. The single-particle imaging capability enabled us to classify Ag nanoparticles, measure the dissolution dynamics of single nanoparticles, and correlate the aggregation size with oxidation activity. Moreover, we studied the dual effect of natural organic matter on the dissolution of Ag nanoparticles and validated this result with real natural freshwater. Our study provides new insights into the dissolution of Ag nanoparticles, and this technique can be extended for other nanomaterials to evaluate their fate in aquatic environments.