THE EFFECT OF MATRIX-NANOPARTICLE INTERACTIONS ON THE RECOGNITION OF ARYLDIAZONIUM NANOPARTICLES IMPRINTED MATRICES

The selective recognition of nanoparticles (NPs) can be achieved by nanoparticles imprinted matrices (NAIMs) by which NPs are imprinted in a matrix followed by their removal to form voids that can reuptake the original NPs. The recognition depends on supramolecular interactions between the matrix and the shell of the NPs, as well as on the geometrical suitability of the imprinted voids to accommodate the NPs. Here, gold NPs stabilized with citrate (AuNPs-cit) were preadsorbed onto a conductive surface followed by electrografting of p-aryldiazonium salts (ADS) with different functional groups. The thickness of the matrix was carefully controlled by the applied potential. The AuNPs-cit were removed by electrochemically dissolution. The recognition of the NAIMs was determined by reuptaking the original AuNPs-cit by the imprinted voids. We found that the recognition efficiency is a function of the thickness of the NAIM layer and is sensitive to the chemical structure of the matrix. Specifically, the subtle change of the functional group of p-aryldiazonium building block, which was varied from an ether to an ester, affected significantly the recognition of the NPs.