Hysteresis of charge tunneling in assemblies of carboxylic acid-modified gold nanoparticles.
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.
Biancardo
Matteo
M
Department of Chemistry, University of Ferrara, Via Luigi Borsari, 46, 44100 Ferrara, Italy.
Quinn
Aidan J
AJ
Floyd
Liam
L
Mendes
Paula M
PM
Briggs
Simon S
SS
Preece
Jon A
JA
Bignozzi
Carlo A
CA
Redmond
Gareth
G