Possible morphologies of Au Nanoparticles – Icosahedron

Compare the idealised polyhedron structure with the structures calculated for various numbers of gold atoms by Density Functional Theory.

The icosahedron is the kinetically stable and the most frequently observed structure. Especially, Au₁₃ icosahedron is a common structure can be found in many gold nanoparticles.

For example, a thiol-stabilized gold nanoparticle:
Au₂₅(SEt)₁₈.

The structures were obtained from the literature (A. S. Barnard, Accounts of Chemical Research, 2012, 45, 1688-1697).