Auto-deposition of gold on chemically modified polystyrene beads

A simple method for the electroless deposition of gold particles or gold films on aminated polystyrene beads is reported. Unlike most of the previous reports the current method does not require any gold nanoparticle seeds or reducing agent. The aminated polystyrene beads assist in the auto-reduction of HAuCl4 and also the templated growth and stabilization of gold particles. The growth and deposition of gold was followed by UV-vis reflectance spectroscopy, field emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD) and atomic force microscopy (AFM).