title: Photoreactive surfactants: a facile and clean route to oxide and metal nanoparticles in reverse micelles.
abstract: A new class of photoreactive surfactants (PRSs) is presented here, consisting of amphiphiles that can also act as reagents in photochemical reactions. An example PRS is cobalt 2-ethylhexanoate (Co(EH)(2)), which forms reverse micelles (RMs) in a hydrocarbon solvent, as well as mixed reversed micelles with the standard surfactant Aerosol-OT (AOT). Small-angle neutron scattering (SANS) data show that mixed AOT/PRS RMs have a spherical structure and size similar to that of pure AOT micelles. Excitation of the ligand-to-metal charge transfer (LMCT) band in the PRSs promotes electron transfer from PRS to associated metal counterions, leading to the generation of metal and metal-oxide nanoparticles inside the RMs. This work presents proof of concept for employing PRSs as precursors to obtain nearly monodisperse inorganic nanoparticles: here both Co(3)O(4) and Bi nanoparticles have been synthesized at high metal concentration (10(-2) M) by simply irradiating the RMs. These results point toward a new approach of photoreactive self-assembly, which represents a clean and straightforward route to the generation of nanomaterials.
authors: Departamento de Química Fundamental, Universidade Federal de Pernambuco, BR-50740-560 Recife, PE, Brazil.
authors: Rodrigo J
authors: RJ
authors: de Oliveira
authors: Paul
authors: P
authors: Brown
authors: Gemima B
authors: GB
authors: Correia
authors: Sarah E
authors: SE
authors: Rogers
authors: Richard
authors: R
authors: Heenan
authors: Isabelle
authors: I
authors: Grillo
authors: André
authors: A
authors: Galembeck
authors: Julian
authors: J
authors: Eastoe