Droplet microfluidics for the highly controlled synthesis of branched gold nanoparticles.

ABSTRACT: The synthesis of anisotropic metallic nanoparticles (NPs) has been a field of intense and challenging research in the past decade. In this communication, we report on the reproducible and highly controllable synthesis of monodisperse branched gold nanoparticles in a droplet-based microfluidics platform. The process has been automated by adapting two different bulk synthetic strategies to microdroplets, acting as microreactors, for NP synthesis: a surfactant-free synthesis and a surfactant-assisted synthesis. Microdroplets were generated in two different microfluidic devices designed to accommodate the requirements of both bulk syntheses. The epitaxial growth of AuNSTs inside the microdroplets allowed for a fine control of reagent mixing and local concentrations during particle formation. T

SUBMITTER: Abalde-Cela S 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5799180 | biostudies-literature | 2018 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature