Assembly of Preformed Gold Nanoparticles onto Thermoresponsive Poly(N‐isopropylacrylamide)‐Based Microgels on the Basis of Au‐thiol Chemistry

Abstract

The assembly of preformed gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) onto the thermoresponsive poly(N‐isopropylacrylamide) (PNIPAM)‐based microgels was achieved on the basis of the driving force of Au‐thiol chemistry. The loading amount of AuNPs can be controlled by varying the ratio of AuNPs relative to PNIPAM‐based microgels. The as‐prepared PNIPAM/Au hybrid microgels showed well‐defined reversible swelling/deswelling transition in response to temperature, which can be employed to tune the plasmonic property of hybrid microgels. As the temperature was increased, the position of localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR) band red‐shifted to some extent mainly due to the increase in the local refractive index around AuNPs.