Stabilization of neodymium oxide nanoparticles via soft adsorption of charged polymers.

In this work, two synthetic polyelectrolytes, PSS and PAH, are employed as strong adsorbed surfactants to disperse and stabilize neodymium oxide nanoparticles. The acid-base equilibria of the oxide surfaces of the particles were investigated under different pH conditions in the absence and presence of polyelectrolytes, to optimize particle stabilization through enhancement of the effective repulsive surface charges. Surface charge amplification of a 3:5 ratio was achieved to permit improved particle transparency of 100-fold in visible wavelengths in neutral and acidic pH regimes, and a stable 10-fold surface charge amplification was achieved under basic pH conditions. The potential of polyelectrolytes as stabilizing agents for neodymium oxide NPs in large-scale particle physics experiments requiring extremely high optical transparency over long path length is evaluated based on optical absorbance and particle stability.