Autocatalytic surface reduction and its role in controlling seed-mediated growth of colloidal metal nanocrystals.

ABSTRACT: The growth of colloidal metal nanocrystals typically involves an autocatalytic process, in which the salt precursor adsorbs onto the surface of a growing nanocrystal, followed by chemical reduction to atoms for their incorporation into the nanocrystal. Despite its universal role in the synthesis of colloidal nanocrystals, it is still poorly understood and controlled in terms of kinetics. Through the use of well-defined nanocrystals as seeds, including those with different types of facets, sizes, and internal twin structure, here we quantitatively analyze the kinetics of autocatalytic surface reduction in an effort to control the evolution of nanocrystals into predictable shapes. Our kinetic measurements demonstrate that the activation energy barrier to autocatalytic surface reduction is hi

SUBMITTER: Yang TH 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5748196 | biostudies-literature | 2017 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature