title: Positron annihilation lifetimes in cucurbiturils: evidence of internal inclusion of gold in CB[7].
abstract: Positron annihilation lifetime (PAL) measurements are carried out to determine the cavity dimensions of hydrated and dehydrated cucurbiturils (CB[n]; n=5,6,7,8). In the case of hydrated samples, the dimensions of the cavity are unrelated to the number of glycoluril units of the CB, whereas for dehydrated samples the cavity dimensions measured by PAL follow the expected order, although the experimental values obtained by PAL are significantly smaller than the dimensions of each CB determined by crystallography. For a host-guest complex in which colloidal gold nanoparticles are assumed to be included inside CB[7], a significant reduction of the cavity size is measured. This represents an experimental evidence of the inclusion of gold inside CB[7], which complements previous high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (TEM) images.
authors.affiliation: Instituto de Tecnologia Quimica, Universidad Politecnica de Valencia, Av. De los Naranjos s/n, 46022, Valencia, Spain.
authors.forename: Pedro
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Montes-Navajas
authors.forename: Laura C
authors.initials: LC
authors.lastname: Damonte
authors.forename: Hermenegildo
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: García