Precipitation of gold nanoparticles on insulating surfaces for metallic ultra-thin film electroless deposition assistance

► The kinetics of 15 and 25 nm AuNPs precipitation on SAM/SiO2/Si surface were studied. ► 15 nm NPs are promising candidate to catalyze the deposition of ultra-thin films. ► NPs independently of their size precipitate with a certain regularity and order. ► NPs are organized in pairs and under certain angle. ► In each pair NPs are located at 50-60 nm from each other.