Abstract
Spherical gold nanoparticles with cationic surfaces were prepared in hexadecyltrimethylammonium (CTA+) chloride (CTAC) and CTA+ bromide (CTAB) solutions. In a CTAC solution, ascorbic acid reduction of gold ions (AuCl4−) induced spontaneous nucleation of gold clusters, which resulted in the formation of small gold nanoparticles (<5 nm). In a CTAB solution, the combination of ascorbic acid and AuBr4− induced low spontaneous nucleation, and therefore controllable crystal growth of seed particles was possible. To obtain uniform gold nanoparticles, seed particles (<5 nm) were first prepared in a CTAC solution using NaBH4 as a reducing agent. Subsequent growth reactions of the seeds in CTAB solutions were controllable to obtain gold nanoparticles with diameters ranging from 7 to 60 nm.
