Impact of solvent layer, size, and ligand decoration on hydration shells around iron oxide nanoparticles

Recently, it was found that nanoparticles influence their liquid surroundings and that water restructures close to iron oxide nanoparticles of 7 nm in diameter. With this proposal we want to now study in detail how different parameters like e.g. particle size, ligand decoration, particle concentration and ageing influence the interfacial signal around iron oxide nanoparticles. For instance, an improvement of our synthesis strategy now enables us to yield IONPs with diameters of only 5 nm, for which an impact of edges and corners is expected to stronger than for the 7 nm ones. Of special interest is further the difference between nanoparticles redispersed directly after synthesis and nanoparticles, which were freeze dried in between.