Introduction to Gold Nanoparticles (GNPs)

Introduction

Gold Nanoparticles (GNPs) have received considerable attention in recent years. Because of its unique physical, chemical, photochemical, biomedical and opto-electronic properties, this kind of material performs well on catalysis, bio-sensor and several other areas. GNPs can interact with light, due to the surface plasmon resonance. The optical and electronic properties of gold nanoparticles are tunable by changing the size, shape, surface chemistry, or aggregation state. Various size and shapes of GNPs have been reported. In order to confine the shape and size of GNPs, polymer encapsulation is one of the methods. In this section, Poly (vinyl pyrrolidone) (PVP) encapsulation, different shapes of nanogold and several examples of GNPs will be presented.

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PVP encapsulated Au Nanoparticles

Possible morphologies of Au Nanoparticles

Thiolate-protected GNPs

Au₂₅(SEt)₁₈

Au₁₀₂(p-MBA)₄₄