Synthesis of single-crystal gold nanosheets of large size in ionic liquids

Large-size single-crystal gold nanosheets have been successfully prepared by microwave heating of HAuCl4 in ionic liquid, 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium tetrafluoroborate, without any additional template agent. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM), electron diffraction (ED), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and X-ray powder diffraction (XRD) were used to characterize the resultant gold nanosheets. It was demonstrated that the ionic liquid could act as template agent for the formation of gold nanosheets. The present synthesis route is very simple and fast. It can be expected that the method can be extended to the fabrication of other metal nanosheets in ionic liquids.