Spontaneous self-assembly and disassembly of colloidal gold nanoparticles induced by tetrakis(hydroxymethyl) phosphonium chloride

Abstract

Upon reacting with tetrakis(hydroxymethyl) phosphonium chloride, 15 nm citrate gold nanoparticles rapidly assemble into linear chains, followed by slowly disassembling into monodisperse components. This work highlights the first example of ³¹P NMR on gold particles of this size and suggests that the phosphonium is oxidized on-particle, contributing to particle disassembly.