NMR evidence for energy gap opening in thiol-capped platinum nanoparticles

TL;DR

This study uses NMR to directly observe an energy gap in thiol-capped platinum nanoparticles smaller than 2.5 nm, indicating a metal-insulator transition due to quantum size effects.

Contribution

First direct NMR evidence of an energy gap opening in platinum nanoparticles below 2.5 nm, revealing a size-dependent metal-insulator transition.

Findings

Energy gap of about 2000 K observed in nanoparticles less than 2.5 nm

Metal-insulator transition occurs below 2.5 nm in diameter

Thiol capping influences the electronic structure of Pt nanoparticles

Abstract

When the particle size of a metal is reduced, it is expected that an energy gap will open due to the quantum size effect. However, the energy gap in platinum (Pt) metal nanoparticles has not been observed directly by nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR). To investigate the particle size dependence of the electronic state of Pt nanoparticles, we performed 195Pt NMR experiments on thiol-capped Pt nanoparticles with three different average diameters of less than 3 nm. For the nanoparticles with a diameter of 2.8 nm, we observed usual metallic behavior with a smaller density of states than that of the bulk Pt. In contrast, the temperature dependence of 1/T1T in nanoparticles less than 2.5 nm in diameter is an activation-energy form above 150 K, which is semiconducting behavior with an energy gap of the order of 2000 K. The significant decrease in 1/T1T by more than two orders of magnitude in the smaller Pt nanoparticles compared to the bulk Pt is attributable to the disappearance of the density of states at the Fermi energy, which is consistent with the opening of an energy gap. These results indicate a metal-insulator transition below 2.5 nm in diameter is present in our thiol-capped Pt nanoparticle samples. The effect of the thiol capping on the electronic structure suggested by the experimental results is also discussed.