Regulation of Interparticle Interactions: In Search of Advanced Nanoparticle Functions
DIPC Seminars
- Speaker
-
Pramod P. Pillai, Indian Instiute of Science Education and Research (IISER) Pune, India
- When
-
2019/06/13
14:00 - Place
- Donostia International Physics Center
- Add to calendar
- iCal
Ability to control the interplay of forces can not only improve the existing
nanoparticle (NP) functionalities but can pave way for newer properties as
well.1 Our group is interested in controlling the fundamental forces, and
thereby interparticle interactions, to understand and improve various
processes occurring at the nanoscale. In principle most of the forces and
interactions at the nanoscale originate from molecules around a nanomaterial.
Thus, one of the fundamental aspects of our research is the surface
functionalization of nanomaterials with molecules of interest, while retaining
NP’s inherent optoelectronic properties. We have successfully tested our
hypothesis of controlling the interplay of forces in some of the fundamental
nanoscale properties like self-assembly, sensing, catalysis, light harvesting
and biotargeting.2-4 For instance, we have regulated the interparticle forces
to reveal the unprecedented phenomenon of controlled aggregation and emergence
of selectivity in inherently non-selective Au NPs, without the aid of any
analyte specific ligands.2 In another example, a precise tuning of NP-reactant
interactions helped in outplaying the poisoning effects of ligands in NP
catalyzed reactions. The same metal core can function as a catalyst and a non-
catalyst based on the NP surface potential. The superiority of surface
engineering of NP system lies in the ease with which the necessary surface
chemistry can be ‘fitted in’ irrespective of the NP core. In this regard,
we have successfully demonstrated electrostatically driven light induced
energy/electron transfer processes in Quantum Dot-Dye hybrid systems.4 These
advancements in the existing optoelectronic properties of nanomaterials
through the fine control over interactions are expected to expand the scope of
nanoscience in energy and health research.
References
1\. (a) B. A. Grzybowski and W. T. S. Huck, Nat. Nanotechnol. 2016, 11, 585;
(b) C. A. S. Batista, R. G. Larson and N. A. Kotov, Science 2015, 350,
1242477; (c) K. J. Bishop, C. E. Wilmer, S. Soh and B. A. Grzybowski, Small
2009, 5, 1600; (d) K. Saha, S. S. Agasti, C. Kim, X. Li and V. M. Rotello,
Chem. Rev. 2012, 112, 2739
2\. (a) A. Rao, S. Roy, M. Unnikrishnan, S. S. Bhosale, G. Devatha and P. P.
Pillai, Chem. Mater. 2016, 28, 2348; (b) A. Rao, S. Govind, S. Roy, T. R.
Ajesh, G. Devatha and P. P. Pillai, ChemRxiv.7195817.v1 2018.
3\. (a) S. Roy, A. Rao, G. Devatha and P. P. Pillai, ACS. Catal. 2017, 7,
7141; (b) S. Roy, S. Roy, A. Rao, G. Devatha and P. P. Pillai, Chem. Mater.
2018, 30, 8415; (c) I. N. Chakraborty, S. Roy, G. Devatha, A. Rao and P. P.
Pillai, Chem. Mater. 2019, 31, 2258.
4\. (a) G. Devatha, S. Roy, A. Rao, A. Mallick, S. Basu and P. P. Pillai,
Chem. Sci. 2017, 8, 2017, 3879; (b) J. A. M. Xavier, G. Devatha, S. Roy, A.
Rao and P. P. Pillai, J. Mater. Chem. A 2018, 6, 22248; (c) S. Muduli, P.
Pandey, G. Devatha, R. Babar, D. C. Kothari, M. Kabir, P. P. Pillai and S.
Ogale, Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2018, 57, 7682.
Host: Marek Grzelczak