 | Synthesis and Characterization of Surface-Passivated Gold Nanoclusters
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| | Yutaka Tai1), Takeshi Mizota2), Masao Watanabe1), Takesi Miki1) and Junichi Murakami1) |
| 1) Institute of Structural and Engineering Materials, National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST)
2) Tsukuba Nanotechnology, Co., Ltd. |
| | To reveal quantum size effects or non-linear optical responses of gold nanoclusters, we aim at producing gold nanoclusters with well-defined sizes. For the production of the nanoclusters, we have chosen to adopt the method developed by Brust et. al. [1]. This is a liquid-phase production method of gold nanoclusters with surface-passivating thiols, which enables us to produce size-controlled clusters in large quantity. Briefly, an aqueous solution of hydrogen tetrachloroaurate and a solution of tetraoctylammonium bromide in toluene are mixed and stirred so that the tetrachloroaurates is transferred into the organic layer. Dodecanethiol is then added to the separated organic layer, to which an aqueous solution of sodium borohydride is further added to reduce gold ions. This procedure leads to formation of gold nanoclusters with thiol molecules as surfactants. |
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