Synthesis of large uniform gold and core–shell gold–silver nanoparticles: Effect of temperature control

Abstract

The temperatures of nucleation and growth for gold and silver nanoparticles are quite close to each other in citrate-based seeded-growth synthesis. Hence, thorough temperature control during the synthesis of gold and gold–silver core–shell nanoparticles is expected to improve the yield of uniform non-aggregated nanoparticles suitable for selective contrasting of surface defects. Gold and gold–silver core–shell nanoparticles of size ranging from 20 to 160 nm were synthesized using various means of temperature control. The synthesized nanoparticles were characterized by transmission electron microscopy (TEM), dynamic light scattering (DLS) and UV–Vis spectroscopy. Model nanocracks were milled on pipeline steel specimen by focused ion beam (FIB). It was found that to produce large uniform core–shell nanoparticles, thorough temperature control is required during formation of the gold seeds and the silver shell. Moreover, the synthesized nanoparticles were used for selective contrasting of defects on metal surface.