Thiol-terminated polystyrene through the reversible addition–fragmentation chain transfer technique for the preparation of gold nanoparticles and their application in organic memory devices

Abstract

This work focuses on the preparation of gold nanoparticles decorated with well-defined polystyrene (PS) for PS-based thin nanocomposite films. Reversible addition–fragmentation chain transfer (RAFT) polymerization of styrene using dibenzyltrithiocarbonate (DBTTC) as a chain transfer agent (CTA) followed by a hydrolysis reaction produced a thiol end-capped PS. The polymer was successfully used as polymeric surface modifier in a two-phase gold nanoparticle (Au-NP) synthesis process, generating Au-NPs having average diameters ranging from 3 to 5 nm. The Au-NPs were incorporated into PS thin films to fabricate organic memory devices, exhibiting switching behaviors.