1,2,4-Triazole-3-thiol-protected silver-nanoparticles as a platform for ECE electrochemical reaction

•1,2,4-triazole-3-thiol-protected silver-nanoparticles were electrochemically modified by catechol through an ECE mechanism.•Modification of AgNPs was done by 1,4-Michael addition of their -NH groups with electrochemically generated o-benzoquinone.•Process was carried out in the green condition including neutral aqueous solution and room temperature and pressure.

Incorporation of “green chemistry” principles into nanotechnology has become one of the key subjects for nanoscience researches. In this work, we report an electrochemical reaction with ECE mechanism on the surface of 1,2,4-triazole-3-thiol-protected silver nanoparticles (TATAgNPs) via electrochemical oxidation of catechol in the presence of TATAgNPs. The reaction proceeds via the nucleophilic 1,4-Michael addition of TATAgNPs to electrochemically generated o-benzoquinone in aqueous solution and at ambient temperature and pressure. The occurrence of ECE mechanism on the Ag nanoparticles was proved by cyclic voltammetric and controlled potential coulometry. Also functionalized AgNPs were characterized by UV-Vis spectroscopy, dynamic light scattering (DLS) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) techniques.

Graphical abstractECE electrochemical reaction on the surface of 1,2,4-triazole-3-thiol-protected silver-nanoparticles.Download high-res image (132KB)Download full-size image