Mass spectrometry and Monte Carlo method mapping of nanoparticle ligand shell morphology

Janus, patchy, stripe-like, or random arrangements of molecules within the ligand shell of nanoparticles affect many properties. Among all existing ligand shell morphology characterization methods, the one based on mass spectroscopy is arguably the simplest. Its greatest limitation is that the results are qualitative. Here, we use a tailor-made Monte Carlo type program that fits the whole MALDI spectrum and generates a 3D model of the ligand shell. Quantitative description of the ligand shell in terms of nearest neighbor distribution and characteristic length scale can be readily extracted by the model, and are compared with the results of other characterization methods. A parameter related to the inter-molecular interaction is extracted when this method is combined with NMR. This approach could become the routine method to characterize the ligand shell morphology of many nanoparticles and we provide an open access program to facilitate its use.