Systematic synthesis and magnetic characterization of palladium nanoparticles with hexanethiolate and phenylethanethiolate ligands

Palladium nanoparticles have been synthesized using a systematic variation of the two-phase Burst-Schiffrin reaction to specifically tailor their physical properties. Furthermore, hexanethiolate and phenylethanethiolate ligands have been added to kinetically stabilize the nanoparticles and as a consequence the magnetic properties have been altered due the change in ligand-nanoparticle exchange interaction. The magnetic properties of the nanoparticles were then studied via the vibrating sample magnetometer and subsequently compared with similar experiments in the nanomagnetism literature. A distinctive increase in magnetic saturation, remanence and coercivity has been evidenced by comparing the phenylethanethiolate ligand group samples to the hexanethiolate ligand group samples, indicating the importance of capping agents within this popular subject