Size evolution of alkanethiol-protected gold nanoparticles by heat treatment in the solid state

A simple method is proposed to control the size of alkanethiol-protected Au nanoparticles by heat treatment in the solid state. The mean diameter of the An nanoparticles prepared by Brust's two-phase method (similar to1.5 nm) was evolved to 3.4-9.7 nm by heating to 150-250 degreesC in air. The uniform growth of nanoparticles was not observed when tetraoctylammonium bromide (TOAB), which was used as a phase-transfer agent during the preparation of An nanoparticles, was removed before the particle growth process. The crystal structures of Au nanoparticles and alkanethiol ligand structures on An nanoparticles were characterized before and after the heat treatment. The size-evolution mechanism was discussed on the basis of the thermodynamic model. The heat-treated An nanoparticles easily formed self-assembled 2D superlattices with hexagonal packing, where the alkanethiol protective agents with an all-trans conformation were estimated to interpenetrate each other.