Understanding seed-mediated growth of gold nanoclusters at molecular level.

ABSTRACT: The continuous development of total synthesis chemistry has allowed many organic and biomolecules to be produced with known synthetic history-that is, a complete set of step reactions in their synthetic routes. Here, we extend such molecular-level precise reaction routes to nanochemistry, particularly to a seed-mediated synthesis of inorganic nanoparticles. By systematically investigating the time-dependent abundance of 35 intermediate species in total, we map out relevant step reactions in a model size growth reaction from molecularly pure Au₂₅ to Au₄₄ nanoparticles. The size growth of Au nanoparticles involves two different size-evolution processes (monotonic LaMer growth and volcano-shaped aggregative growth), which are driven by a sequential 2-electron boosting of

SUBMITTER: Yao Q 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5640603 | biostudies-literature | 2017 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature