Issue 48, 2011

Adsorption of cobalt ferrite nanoparticles within layer-by-layer films: a kinetic study carried out using quartz crystal microbalance

Abstract

The paper reports on the successful use of the quartz crystal microbalance technique to assess accurate kinetics and equilibrium parameters regarding the investigation of in situ adsorption of nanosized cobalt ferrite particles (CoFe2O4—10.5 nm-diameter) onto two different surfaces. Firstly, a single layer of nanoparticles was deposited onto the surface provided by the gold-coated quartz resonator functionalized with sodium 3-mercapto propanesulfonate (3-MPS). Secondly, the layer-by-layer (LbL) technique was used to build multilayers in which the CoFe2O4 nanoparticle-based layer alternates with the sodium sulfonated polystyrene (PSS) layer. The adsorption experiments were conducted by modulating the number of adsorbed CoFe2O4/PSS bilayers (n) and/or by changing the CoFe2O4 nanoparticle concentration while suspended as a stable colloidal dispersion. Adsorption of CoFe2O4 nanoparticles onto the 3-MPS-functionalized surface follows perfectly a first order kinetic process in a wide range (two orders of magnitude) of nanoparticle concentrations. These data were used to assess the equilibrium constant and the adsorption free energy. Alternatively, the Langmuir adsorption constant was obtained while analyzing the isotherm data at the equilibrium. Adsorption of CoFe2O4 nanoparticles while growing multilayers of CoFe2O4/PSS was conducted using colloidal suspensions with CoFe2O4 concentration in the range of 10−8 to 10−6 (moles of cobalt ferrite per litre) and for different numbers of cycles n = 1, 3, 5, and 10. We found the adsorption of CoFe2O4 nanoparticles within the CoFe2O4/PSS bilayers perfectly following a first order kinetic process, with the characteristic rate constant growing with the increase of CoFe2O4 nanoparticle concentration and decreasing with the rise of the number of LbL cycles (n). Additionally, atomic force microscopy was employed for assessing the LbL film roughness and thickness. We found the film thickness increasing from about 20 to 120 nm while shifting from 3 to 10 CoFe2O4/PSS bilayers, using the 8.9 × 10−6 (moles of cobalt ferrite per litre) suspension.

Graphical abstract: Adsorption of cobalt ferrite nanoparticles within layer-by-layer films: a kinetic study carried out using quartz crystal microbalance

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
22 Aug 2011
Accepted
04 Oct 2011
First published
24 Oct 2011

Phys. Chem. Chem. Phys., 2011,13, 21233-21242

Adsorption of cobalt ferrite nanoparticles within layer-by-layer films: a kinetic study carried out using quartz crystal microbalance

G. B. Alcantara, L. G. Paterno, A. S. Afonso, R. C. Faria, M. A. Pereira-da-Silva, P. C. Morais and M. A. G. Soler, Phys. Chem. Chem. Phys., 2011, 13, 21233 DOI: 10.1039/C1CP22693B

To request permission to reproduce material from this article, please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

If you are an author contributing to an RSC publication, you do not need to request permission provided correct acknowledgement is given.

If you are the author of this article, you do not need to request permission to reproduce figures and diagrams provided correct acknowledgement is given. If you want to reproduce the whole article in a third-party publication (excluding your thesis/dissertation for which permission is not required) please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

Read more about how to correctly acknowledge RSC content.

Social activity

Spotlight

Advertisements