title: Optimization of high-yield biological synthesis of single-crystalline gold nanoplates.
abstract: In this work, single-crystalline gold nanoplates were obtained by reducing aqueous chloroauric acid solution with the extract of Sargassum sp. (brown seaweed) at room temperature. The gold nanoplates so obtained were characterized by UV-vis spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction, atomic force microscopy, and transmission electron microscopy. The formation of gold nanoplates was found to depend on a number of environmental factors, such as the time taken to age the seaweed extract, pH of the reaction medium, reaction temperature, reaction time, and initial reactant concentrations. The size of the gold nanoplates could be controlled to between 200 and 800 nm by manipulating the initial reactant concentrations. The yield of the flat gold nanocrystals relative to the total number of nanoparticles formed was as high as approximately 80-90%.
authors.affiliation: Singapore-MIT Alliance, and Department of Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering, National University of Singapore, 10 Kent Ridge Crescent, Singapore.
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Xie
authors.forename: J Y
authors.initials: JY
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: Y P
authors.initials: YP
authors.lastname: Ting
authors.forename: J Paul
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: Chen
mesh_terms: D003460:Crystallization; D006046:Gold / Q000737:chemistry*; D006863:Hydrogen-Ion Concentration; D053768:Metal Nanoparticles / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000648:ultrastructure*; D046529:Microscopy, Electron, Transmission; D013053:Spectrophotometry; D013696:Temperature; D013997:Time Factors; D014961:X-Ray Diffraction
chemical_list: D006046:Gold