Interactions between sterically stabilized nanoparticles in supercritical fluids: a simulation study.

The authors report a simulation study of the interaction between gold nanoparticles stabilized with both linear and branched alkane chains in supercritical ethane. In agreement with experimental and previous theoretical work, the authors find that increasing solvent density and making ligands more branched make the nanoparticle interaction more repulsive. These findings are analyzed in terms of the extent of the chain interdigitation and chain-solvent interaction energy.