title: How and why nanoparticle's curvature regulates the apparent pKa of the coating ligands.
abstract: Dissociation of ionizable ligands immobilized on nanopaticles (NPs) depends on and can be regulated by the curvature of these particles as well as the size and the concentration of counterions. The apparent acid dissociation constant (pK(a)) of the NP-immobilized ligands lies between that of free ligands and ligands self-assembled on a flat surface. This phenomenon is explicitly rationalized by a theoretical model that accounts fully for the molecular details (size, shape, conformation, and charge distribution) of both the NPs and the counterions.
authors.affiliation: School of Materials Science and Engineering, Northwestern Polytechnical University, Xi'an 710072, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Dawei
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Rikkert J
authors.initials: RJ
authors.lastname: Nap
authors.forename: István
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Lagzi
authors.forename: Bartlomiej
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Kowalczyk
authors.forename: Shuangbing
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Han
authors.forename: Bartosz A
authors.initials: BA
authors.lastname: Grzybowski
authors.forename: Igal
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Szleifer
mesh_terms: D006046:Gold / Q000737:chemistry*; D006863:Hydrogen-Ion Concentration; D007477:Ions; D008024:Ligands; D053768:Metal Nanoparticles / Q000737:chemistry*; D008958:Models, Molecular; D010316:Particle Size; D013499:Surface Properties
chemical_list: D007477:Ions; D008024:Ligands; D006046:Gold