title: Hysteresis of charge tunneling in assemblies of carboxylic acid-modified gold nanoparticles.
abstract: We report on charge transport measurements through laterally contacted assemblies of Au nanoparticles capped with 11-mercaptoundecanoic acid ligands. Both alternating- and direct-current data indicate that although the nanoparticles behave as electrically isolated metallic islands, there is a significant influence from the nanoparticle environment, indicating the existence of a slow reorganization process linked to charge transport. On the basis of the observation of temperature-dependent hysteresis of charge tunneling, we propose that this process is due to proton transfer between the carboxylic acid tails of the ligands.
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry, University of Ferrara, Via Luigi Borsari, 46, 44100 Ferrara, Italy.
authors.forename: Matteo
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Biancardo
authors.forename: Aidan J
authors.initials: AJ
authors.lastname: Quinn
authors.forename: Liam
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Floyd
authors.forename: Paula M
authors.initials: PM
authors.lastname: Mendes
authors.forename: Simon S
authors.initials: SS
authors.lastname: Briggs
authors.forename: Jon A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Preece
authors.forename: Carlo A
authors.initials: CA
authors.lastname: Bignozzi
authors.forename: Gareth
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Redmond