Shape controlled synthesis of gold nanoparticles by tweaking of PVP and their dye degradation capability

Abstract

During the last few decades, significant work has already been done into creating synthetic methods for producing nanoparticles of diverse sizes and morphologies, and a large number of recent characteristics have been devoted to the characterisation and uses of metal nanoparticles. The synthesis of gold nanoparticles synthesized using the polymer poly(N-vinyl-2-pyrrolidone) (PVP) was studied in this research work. Reducing and capping abilities of PVP defines the final shape of nanoparticles obtained in wet chemical synthesis. Ambient nature of polymer PVP can be manipulated by its conjugation nature with solvent molecules and halide ions. Tweaking the reduction of gold precursor (Hydro-Chloroauric acid (HAuCl₄.3H 2 O)) by PVP yielded different shaped gold nanospheres, nanotriangles and nanostars. UV–Vis absorption spectra, Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM), and X-ray diffraction studies were used to characterize the synthesized nanoparticles. Localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR) peaks originating in absorption spectra were well correlated with electron microscopy images as well as reaction kinetics. Diffraction peaks obtained in XRD studies demonstrate the crystallization of the nanoparticles in the fcc structure, and other structural parameters calculated reveal the differential shape evolution.