Ligand Exchange in Gold-Coated FePt Nanoparticles

In this work, we present the magnetic properties of gold-coated FePt nanoparticles and the study of stable aqueous dispersions of FePt@Au and FePt synthesized after ligand exchange with mercaptoundecanoic acid. The particle size determined from transmission electron microscopy (TEM) micrographs goes from 4 nm for the uncoated nanoparticles to a maximum of 10 nm for the gold-coated ones indicating that the thickness of the shell ranges from 1 to 3 nm. The magnetic characterization consists in hysteresis cycles at 10 and 300 K. The results show that, at low field and room temperature, the magnetic behavior of uncoated and coated nanoparticles are surprisingly quite similar. Because the gold-coated nanoparticles keep the magnetic properties of FePt and the presence of gold improves the functionalization of nanoparticles, the system is suitable for biological application. Mercaptoundecanoic ligand transfer was used to render water stable nanoparticles in a wide pH range. Transmission electron microscopy and dynamic light scattering (DLS) results show the nanoparticles slightly agglomerate after ligand exchange. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy results suggest that thiol binds to the gold atoms of the surface.