We developed an unconventional
seed-mediated in situ synthetic method, whereby gold
nanostars are formed
directly on
the internal walls of microfluidic reactors. The dense plasmonic substrate
coatings were grown in microfluidic channels with different geometries
to elucidate the impacts of flow rate and profile on reagent consumption,
product morphology, and density. Nanostar growth was found to occur
in the flow-limited regime and our results highlight the possibility
of creating shape gradients or incorporating multiple morphologies
in the same microreactor, which is challenging to achieve with traditional
self-assembly. The plasmonic–microfluidic platforms developed
herein have implications for a broad range of applications, including
cell culture/sorting, catalysis, sensing, and drug/gene delivery.
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