One-pot synthesis of noble metal nanoparticles with a core-shell construction

Noble metal nanoparticles with a core-shell construction not only have great potential in diverse applications, but also can serve as starting templates for the fabrication of noble metal nanomaterials with controllable structures. Herein, we present a one-pot route with remarkable simplicity and universality for the synthesis of noble metal nanoparticles with a core-shell construction. This strategy rationally makes use of the difference in reduction kinetics of various noble metal precursors in oleylamine, whereby one metal precursor with fast reduction kinetics is reduced first to form seed particles for the subsequent nucleation and growth of other metals, resulting in an overall one-step formation of core-shell structured noble metal nanoparticles with single or multiple shells. Core-shell noble metal nanoparticles with Ag or Au residing in the core regions or core-shell-shell noble metal nanoparticles with Au and Ag residing in the core and inner shell regions are prepared in this way. This facile one-pot approach may provide a promising method with ease of control for creating heterogeneously structured nanomaterials.