Sol-Gel Synthesis of Au-Nanoparticle Dispersed Bicontinuous Macroporous Siloxane Gel

Abstract

We synthesized Au-nanoparticle dispersed siloxane gel with well-defined bicontinuous macroporous morphologies. We employed methyltrimethoxysilane (MTMS) as a precursor of the gel skeleton, and also employed hydrogen tetrachloroaurate(III) as both a precursor of Au nanoparticles and an acid catalyst for hydrolysis/condensation of methoxysilanes. The effect of adding (3-mercaptopropyl)trimethoxysilane (MPTMS) as a starting material on the obtained structure was also investigated. It is found that Au nanoparticles of 20-30 nm in grain size are uniformly dispersed on the gel surface in the system containing MPTMS; in contrast, Au nanoparticles assembled in the pits in the MPTMS-free system. All the heat-treated MPTMS-containing gels showed surface plasmon absorption, and the peaks shifted from 550 to 520 nm with increasing the calcination temperature.