Thermally controlled photocatalytic coalescence of functionalized gold nanoparticles

Abstract

The selective synthesis of gold nanoparticles of any desired size is of great interest. Benzophenone in THF has proved to act as an efficient photocatalyst for the growth of thiolate-capped nanoparticles in the presence and in the absence of gold salts. Consequently, we explored the effect of applying thermal energy to control these processes. These studies have provided key information for the effective growth of gold nanoparticles tailored to specific applications.