Electrochemical synthesis of gold nanocubes

Monodispersed gold nanocubes of highly uniform size were fabricated by a simple electrochemical method. The lengths of the edges of the gold nanocubes were about 30 nm. The growth solution was prepared from two cationic surfactant solutions as micelle templates with added acetone solvent. The primary surfactant was hexadecyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB) and the co-surfactant was tetradodecylammonium bromide (TTAB). The selected area electron diffraction (SAED) patterns indicate that the gold nanocubes were single crystals. Transmission electronic microscopy (TEM) suggests that the edges and corners of the cubes were slightly truncated.