Photoinduced Phase Separation of Gold in Two‐Component Nanoparticles

Abstract

A noble separation: The photoinduced reaction of bimetallic nanoparticles to yield nanoprisms involves the phase separation of gold from silver. Ag–Au core/shell and alloy nanoparticles (Ag:Au=10:1–50:1) were used as seeds for the photoinduced formation of nanoprisms. Interestingly, the final products were pure Ag nanoprisms and small, spherical Au nanoparticles (see image). It is believed that the observed phase separation is due to the differences in reactivity of the metals towards oxygen and light.