Deconvoluting the Effects of Surfactant Identity and Concentration on Nanoparticle Purification By Depletion Flocculation
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Authors
Nayeli Santana-Venegas
Issue Date
2026
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Abstract
For any nanoscale material, its use in applications is predicated upon the ability to obtain high purity with respect to both size and shape. For most types and compositions of nanoparticles, this is achieved through highly-optimized synthetic approaches. However, there exist many examples where synthetic routes are limited with respect to synthesized purity, meaning purification is required to obtain the desired product. For anisotropic nanoparticles, depletion flocculation has been shown to successfully purify a several different nanoparticle shapes based on the surface area of the nanoparticles’ largest facet. This process is driven by the addition of excess surfactant, which then self-assembles into micelles and forces the depletion of the nanoparticles. However, in the reports where this technique has been employed to purify certain anisotropic gold nanoparticles, there are discrepancies between experimental observations and the theoretical framework in terms of the depletion potential energy. In this project, we explore the various parameters that affect purification via depletion flocculation using a variety of crude nanoparticle mixtures. We investigate depletion behavior of the nanoparticles and its relationship to surfactant identity and concentration. Finally, we look to better understand the flocculation behavior by investigating the sedimentation rates of different colloid systems.