Photochemical synthesis and self-assembly of gold nanoparticles

Colloidal gold was prepared by UV light irradiation of the mixture of HAuCl₄ aqueous solution and poly(vinyl pyrrolidone) (PVP) ethanol solution in the presence of silver ions. The resulting sheet-like nanoparticles were found to self-assemble into nanoflowers by a centrifuging process. The results of control experiments reflected that only suitable size sheet-like nanoparticles could assemble into the flower-like structures. The presence of Ag ions and PVP are essential for the formation process of nanoflowers. They perform their function by serving as structure-directing agents to produce the sheet-like particles. The appearance of the flower-like assemblages is attributed to the combination of Van der Waals force and the anisotropic hydrophobic attraction between the nanoparticles. The flower-like assemblages films can be used as surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) substrates with 4-aminothiophenol (4-ATP) molecule as a test probe.