Controlled reversible adsorption of core - Shell metallic nanoparticles at the polarized water/1,2-dichloroethane interface investigated by optical second-harmonic generation

We report the observation of the reversible adsorption of core-shell gold-silver nanoparticles at the polarized water/1,2-dichloroethane interface using the nonlinear optical technique of surface second-harmonic generation. This study unambiguously demonstrates the excellent stability against aggregation of these core-shell nanoparticles, namely, gold core nanoparticles coated with silver layers of variable thickness, in the presence of an electrolyte salt like lithium chloride. Furthermore, it is also demonstrated that the adsorption of the nanoparticles is reversible by modulating the applied potential at water/1,2-dichloroethane interface. The analysis of these results is performed within the Debye-Huckel approximation of the electrostatic interactions between the nanoparticles. This approach shows that the stability of core-shell nanoparticles can be attributed to the formation of a silver oxide layer at the Surface of the particles.