Synthesis of tetraoctylammonium-protected gold nanoparticles with improved stability

Steven R Isaacs; Erin C Cutler; Joon-Seo Park; T Randall Lee; Young-Seok Shon

doi:10.1021/la050656b

Synthesis of tetraoctylammonium-protected gold nanoparticles with improved stability

Langmuir. 2005 Jun 21;21(13):5689-92. doi: 10.1021/la050656b.

Authors

Steven R Isaacs¹, Erin C Cutler, Joon-Seo Park, T Randall Lee, Young-Seok Shon

Affiliation

¹ Department of Chemistry, Western Kentucky University, Bowling Green, Kentucky 42101, USA.

PMID: 15952810
DOI: 10.1021/la050656b

Abstract

This paper shows that an introduction of thiosulfate anions in place of bromide anions greatly improves both chemical and thermal stability of tetraoctylammonium-protected gold nanoparticles. Tetraoctylammonium thiosulfate [(Oct)4N+-O3SS]-protected gold nanoparticles are synthesized by the reduction of (Oct)4N+-AuCl4 to Au(I)-SSO3-, followed by the addition of sodium borohydride. The presence of thiosulfate anions instead of bromide anions on the surface of gold nanoparticles results in a significant dampening of the surface plasmon band of gold at 526 nm due to the strong interaction between thiosulfate and the gold nanoparticle surface. Cyanide decomposition and heating treatment studies suggest that (Oct)4N+-O3SS-protected nanoparticles have much higher overall stability compared to (Oct)4N+-Br-protected gold nanoparticles.