High Resolution Physical Characterization of Single Metallic Nanoparticles

Individual molecules can be detected and characterized by measuring the degree by which they reduce the ionic current flowing through a single nanometer-scale pore. The signal is characteristic of the molecule's physicochemical properties and its interactions with the pore. We demonstrate that the nanopore formed by the bacterial protein exotoxin Staphylococcus aureus alpha hemolysin (αHL) can detect polyoxometalates (POMs, anionic metal oxygen clusters), at the single molecule limit. Moreover, multiple degradation products of 12-phosphotungstic acid POM (PTA, H₃PW₁₂O₄₀) in solution are simultaneously measured. The single molecule sensitivity of the nanopore method allows for POMs to be characterized at significantly lower concentrations than required for nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy. This technique could serve as a new tool for chemists to study the molecular properties of polyoxometalates or other metallic clusters, to better understand POM synthetic processes, and possibly improve their yield. Hypothetically, the location of a given atom, or the rotation of a fragment in the molecule, and the metal oxidation state could be investigated with this method. In addition, this new technique has the advantage of allowing the real-time monitoring of molecules in solution.