Tailored synthesis of various Au nanoarchitectures with branched shapes

Abstract

The development of a simple and feasible method to synthesize Au nanoarchitectures with branched shapes is highly desired and technically important for the exciting anisotropic Au structures which are useful in diverse research fields. In this study, a one-step and rapid strategy is developed to selectively synthesize various Au architectures, including flower-, cauliflower-, raspberry-, urchin-, confeito-like architectures, in aqueous solution at room temperature without the need for any template, seed, or additive. Our strategy is quite unique in its simplicity which remarkably facilitates the synthetic procedure in comparison with commonly used seed-mediated growth approach. By changing reducing agents, Au salts, and their concentrations in the reactive system, it becomes possible to tailor both of the shapes and sizes of the branched Au architectures.