title: Construction of evolutionary tree for morphological engineering of nanoparticles.
abstract: In addition to chemical composition, the chemistry of nanocrystals involves an extra structural factor--morphology--since many of their properties are size- and shape-dependent. Although often described as artificial atoms or molecules, the morphological control of nanoparticles has not advanced to a level comparable to organic total synthesis, where complex molecular structures can be rationally designed and prepared through stepwise reactions. Here we report a morphological engineering approach for gold nanoparticles by constructing an evolutionary tree consisting of a few branches of independent growth pathways. Each branch yields a string of evolving, continuously tunable morphologies from one reaction, therefore collectively producing a library of nanoparticles with minimal changes of reaction parameters. In addition, the tree also provides ground rules for designing new morphologies through crossing over different pathways.
authors.affiliation: Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois 60208-3108, USA.
authors.forename: Kwonnam
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Sohn
authors.forename: Franklin
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Ken C
authors.initials: KC
authors.lastname: Pradel
authors.forename: Jinsong
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.forename: Yong
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Peng
authors.forename: Feimeng
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Zhou
authors.forename: Jiaxing
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Huang
mesh_terms: D006046:Gold / Q000737:chemistry*; D053768:Metal Nanoparticles / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000648:ultrastructure; D008855:Microscopy, Electron, Scanning
chemical_list: D006046:Gold