New approach to the assembly of gold nanoparticles: Formation of stable gold nanoparticle ensemble with chainlike structures by chemical oxidation in solution

By reducing the pyrrole contents on their surfaces, gold nanoparticles (capped by alkanethiolates and thiolates with pyrrole units) were cross-linked covalently by chemical oxidation into a stable nanoparticle ensemble with chainlike structures. This new and convenient assembly method for gold nanoparticles may be also applied to other functional nanoparticles (e.g., CdS, core-shell Co/Pt, and Fe/Au).