2-D organization of silica nanoparticles on gold surfaces: CO marker detection and storage.

A single layer of silica nanoparticles with an average size of ∼200 nm was deposited over the surface of pristine gold wafers, aided by (3-mercaptopropyl)trimethoxysilane. The nanoparticle immobilization was driven by covalent bonding rather than a self-assembly process, leading to a cluster-assembled material which has CO sensing features. Here, we show how this device can be used for CO physisorption and chemisorption.