Synthesis, characterization and optical non-linearities of gold nanoparticles stabilized by oligo-2-aminopyridine derivative

Oligo-2-aminopyridine derivative-protected gold nanoparticles (OAP-Au) with narrow size distribution have been prepared via reduction of HAuCl4 by NaBH4 using a two-phase method. TEM image shows that the diameters of these particles range from 2 to 5 nm and the average diameter is 3.5 nm. The optical non-linearities of OAP-Au in chloroform were determined by the Z-scan technique with a pulsed laser of 8 ns width at 532 nm. The results indicate that OAP-Au show strong non-linear absorption and self-focusing effects.