Step by step in situ analysis of the formation of Au nanoparticles in reduction by oleylamine

The role of pre-nucleation clusters in the crystallization of gold nanoparticles

“…A fourth effect that has not been considered here is the reducing power of OY assuming that Au(III) and Au (I) complexes are reduced by OY at higher temperature. 31…”

“…In organic solvent media, unreduced mesoscopic structures were also identified by DLS in the case of reduction of gold chloride in a solution of oleylamine in octadecene. 31 Among the different methods, the synthesis of metal nanoparticles in apolar solvents, using long alkyl chain surfactants to control the colloidal stability of the final suspensions, is nowadays a very popular method, for both noble 32 and nonnoble metals. 33 The major property sought in alkyl chain surfactants is their role in controlling the growth step, leading to a fine control of the particle size and shape.…”

“…To assess the gold speciation as a function of time, time-resolved XAS spectra were fitted by the linear combination analyses (LCA), as described in previous studies. 14,31 At first, the LCA were performed with only two contributions, the spectrum of the Au(III) initial precursor at t = 0 s (Fig. S5a †) and the one of the final Au(0) nanoparticles after 24 h of reaction (Fig.…”