Enhancing Interfacial Charge Transport in Gold Nanoparticle@Polyaniline Hybrids via <i>N</i> ‐Heterocyclic Carbene Linkers
Abstract
ABSTRACT N ‐Heterocyclic carbenes (NHCs) have emerged as a unique class of ligands for gold nanoparticles (Au NPs), combining strong metal binding with intrinsic electronic conductivity. Yet over the past decade, studies on Au NP@NHC systems have primarily focused on their stability, while the conductivity of NHCs has remained largely unexplored due to synthesis challenges. Here, we present a synthetic strategy that addresses this gap by employing amino‐functionalized NHC‐Au complexes with in situ oxidative polymerization of polyaniline (PANI) to yield electronically coupled Au NP@NHC‐PANI hybrids in aqueous media. This strategy enables both a controlled PANI shell growth and introduction of an electronically active NHC interlayer. Single‐particle scattering spectroscopy reveals that NHCs improve the interfacial electronic coupling as evidenced by pronounced plasmonic linewidth broadening. Conductivity measurements further confirm that NHCs enhance charge transport: conductive atomic force microscopy (C‐AFM) shows an increase in contact current from 14.6 to 99.4 pA under a 300‐mV bias, while lateral four‐probe conductance increases from 0.17 to 3.5 nS. These results provide the first direct experimental evidence of the conductive role of NHCs in hybrid NP‐polymer systems, establishing a new interface‐engineering strategy for the rational design of electronically delocalized nanostructures and their applications in nanoelectronics.
Article Details
Authors (20)
Ningwei Sun
Haoran Zhang
Beijing National Laboratory for Molecular Sciences, Key Laboratory of Polymer Chemistry and Physics of Ministry of Education, Center for Soft Matter Science and Engineering, College of Chemistry and Molecular Engineering
Ziwei Zhou
Po Yuen Ho
Leibniz Institute of Polymer Research Dresden Dresden Germany
Ilka Hermes
Leibniz Institute of Polymer Research Dresden Dresden Germany
Yanfei Gao
Shivam Singh
Chair For Emerging Electronic Technologies TUD Dresden University of Technology Dresden Germany
Dmitry A. Ryndyk
Leibniz Institute of Polymer Research Dresden Dresden Germany
Olga Guskova
Leibniz Institute of Polymer Research Dresden Dresden Germany
Zhenyang Jia
Department of Chemistry University of Illinois Urbana‐Champaign Urbana Illinois USA
Tathagata Chatterjee
Department of Chemistry University of Illinois Urbana‐Champaign Urbana Illinois USA
Antoine E. Jimenez
Kaline Pagnan Furlan
Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) Institute For Applied Materials (IAM) Ceramic Materials and Technologies Karlsruhe Germany
Marina Sebastian
Leibniz Institute of Polymer Research Dresden Dresden Germany
Christian Rossner
Stephan Link
Department of Chemistry
Christy F. Landes
Department of Chemistry University of Illinois Urbana‐Champaign Urbana Illinois USA
Yana Vaynzof
Chair for Emerging Electronic Technologies
Andreas Fery
Division of Physical Chemistry and Polymer Physics, Leibniz Institut für Polymerforschung Dresden, Hohe Str. 6, Dresden 01069, Germany
Franziska S.‐C. Lissel
Leibniz Institute of Polymer Research Dresden Dresden Germany