The Effects of Gold Seeds Stabilizing Agent on Gold Nanostructures Morphologies

The synthesis of gold (Au) nanostructures was successfully achieved through a three-step heterogeneous nucleation process. Two different types of Au seeds were prepared using citrate and cetyltrimethylammonium (CTAB) as stabilisers. Citrate and CTAB stabilized seeds were used to grow Au nanostructures separately. The CTAB stabilized seeds produced larger particles, of various shapes, with an average particle size >120 nm with a wide size distribution (50–200 nm). The triangular Au nanostructures present in the mixture had a 3 dimensional morphology (i.e. pyramid shape) as confirmed by Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM). The citrate stabilized seeds were monodisperse and yielded well dispersed Au nanostructures with uniform morphology. These seeds had an average particle size of 50 nm with a narrow particle size distribution (45 – 55 nm).