2014 Volume 14 Issue 2 Pages 47-54
This paper describes the synthesis of metal nanoparticles using Pluronic-type surfactants composed of poly(ethylene oxide) (PEO) and poly(propylene oxide) (PPO) (PEO-PPO block copolymers) in solutions. Metal (gold and silver) nanoparticles are syntheized by simply mixing of a metal salt (HAuCl4 and AgNO3) solution with a Pluronic-type surfactant solution in the absence of any other reducing agents. Size- and shape-control, colloidal stabilization of metal nanoparticles and the synthesis of bimetallic nanocolloids are achieved by judicious selection of Pluronic-type surfactants and solution properties (e.g., variation of block copolymer type, amphiphilic character, concentration, temperature, solvent) due to the multi-function (the reducing function for metal ions and capping (stabilizing) function for metal nanoparticles) of Pluronic-type surfactants. The synthesis of metal nanoparticles using amino-terminated PEO-PPO block copolymers (PEO-PPO-NH2) is also introduced in this paper.
