Magnetoelectrochemistry of Gold Nanoparticle Quantized Capacitance Charging

Abstract

Magnetoelectrochemical studies of gold nanoparticle quantized capacitance charging were carried out at ambient conditions. The single electron transfer responses were found to be sensitive to external magnetic fields, reflected in the enhancement of voltammetric peak currents and shifts of peak formal potentials with increasing magnetic field intensities. Additionally, splittings of voltammetric peaks were also observed upon the application of an external magnetic field. These phenomena might be partly attributed to the paramagnetic characters (electron parity) of nanosized gold particles which are contingent upon their charge states. These novel observations suggest that the nanoparticle electronic energy structures can be varied by magnetic fields, leading to molecular manipulations of the nanoscale charge-transfer chemistry.