Issue 3, 2012
From the journal:

Nanoscale

Growth and branching of gold nanoparticles through mesoporous silica thin films†

Paula C. Angelomé,*a   Isabel Pastoriza-Santos,a   Jorge Pérez-Juste,a   Benito Rodríguez-González,a   Andrés Zelcer,bc   Galo J. A. A. Soler-Illiabd  and  Luis M. Liz-Marzán*a  

* Corresponding authors

a Departamento de Química Física-Universidade de Vigo, Vigo, Spain
E-mail: angelome@uvigo.es, lmarzan@uvigo.es

b Gerencia Química, Centro Atómico Constituyentes, Comisión Nacional de Energía Atómica, Av. Gral Paz 1499, San Martín, Buenos Aires, Argentina

c Escuela de Ciencia y Technología-Universidad de San Martín, Buenos Aires, Argentina

d Departamento de Química Inorgánica, Analítica y Química Física, Facultad de Ciencias Exastas y Naturales, Universidad de Buenos Aires, Buenos Aires, Argentina

Abstract

Composite materials made of mesoporous oxide thin films containing metallic nanoparticles are of high interest in various fields, including catalysis, biosensing and non-linear optics. We demonstrate in this work the fabrication of such composite materials containing a sub-monolayer of gold nanoparticles (GNPs) of various shapes covered with mesoporous silica thin films. Additionally, the shape of the GNPs (and thus their optical properties) can be modified in situ through seeded growth and branching. Such growth proceeds upon wetting with HAuCl4 solution, a surfactant (cetyltrimethylammonium bromide, CTAB) and a mild reducing agent (ascorbic acid, AA). The effect of varying several reaction parameters (time and CTAB and AA concentrations) was evaluated, showing that more anisotropic particles are obtained at longer reaction times, lower CTAB concentration and higher AA concentration. The final shape of the GNPs was also found to depend on their initial shape and size, as well as the pore size of the mesoporous film covering them. Because the growth proceeds through the pores of the film, it may lead to shapes that are not easily obtained in solution, such as particles with branches on one side only. Finally, we have confirmed that no damage was induced to the mesoporous silica structure during the growth process and thus the final particles remain well covered by the thin film, which can eventually be used as a filter between the GNPs and the outer medium.

Graphical abstract: Growth and branching of gold nanoparticles through mesoporous silica thin films

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Article information

DOI
https://doi.org/10.1039/C2NR11547F
Article type
Paper
Submitted
20 Oct 2011
Accepted
24 Nov 2011
First published
22 Dec 2011

Nanoscale, 2012,4, 931-939

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Growth and branching of gold nanoparticles through mesoporous silica thin films

P. C. Angelomé, I. Pastoriza-Santos, J. Pérez-Juste, B. Rodríguez-González, A. Zelcer, G. J. A. A. Soler-Illia and L. M. Liz-Marzán, Nanoscale, 2012, 4, 931 DOI: 10.1039/C2NR11547F

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