Photoreduction of a crystalline Au(III) complex: a solid-state approach to metallic nanostructures

Gold platelets with a nanometer thickness and a width of up to 15 mu m have been fabricated by photoreduction of Au(III) within a layered, crystalline gold complex. Particle shape selection (large spheres vs. platelets) is largely controlled by the sample temperature, which varies with the UV lamp-sample distance: at short distances the sample melts and only micrometer-sized spheres form, at intermediate distances platelets and spheres form, and at distances over ca. 40 cm, mostly platelets form. The particles can be stabilized with thiols and extracted from the organic matrix.