title: Interactions of gold nanoparticles with the interior of hollow graphitized carbon nanofibers.
abstract: Interactions of free-standing gold nanoparticles and hollow graphitized nanofibers in colloidal suspension are investigated, revealing the first example of the controlled arrangement of nanoparticles inside nano-containers, as directed by their internal structure. The ordering is highly effective for small gold nanoparticles whose sizes are commensurate with the height of graphitic step-edges in the graphitized carbon nanofibers and is less effective for larger gold nanoparticles. Studies aimed at understanding the role of the organic-solvent surface tension, employed for the filling experiments, demonstrate that gold nanoparticles become preferentially anchored into the hollow graphitized carbon nanofibers under a mixture of pentane/CO(2)  in supercritical conditions. It is shown that a three-step cleaning procedure enables effective removal of gold nanoparticles adsorbed on the exterior surface of graphitized carbon nanofibers, while ordered arrays of encapsulated nanoparticles are retained.
authors.affiliation: School of Chemistry, University of Nottingham, University Park, Nottingham NG7 2RD, UK.
authors.forename: Alessandro
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: La Torre
authors.forename: Michael W
authors.initials: MW
authors.lastname: Fay
authors.forename: Graham A
authors.initials: GA
authors.lastname: Rance
authors.forename: Maria
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Del Carmen Gimenez-Lopez
authors.forename: William A
authors.initials: WA
authors.lastname: Solomonsz
authors.forename: Paul D
authors.initials: PD
authors.lastname: Brown
authors.forename: Andrei N
authors.initials: AN
authors.lastname: Khlobystov
mesh_terms: D002244:Carbon / Q000737:chemistry*; D006046:Gold / Q000737:chemistry*; D053768:Metal Nanoparticles / Q000737:chemistry*; D057139:Nanofibers / Q000737:chemistry*; D037742:Nanotubes, Carbon / Q000737:chemistry
chemical_list: D037742:Nanotubes, Carbon; D002244:Carbon; D006046:Gold