title: One-pot synthesis of dendritic gold nanostructures in aqueous solutions of quaternary ammonium cationic surfactants: effects of the head group and hydrocarbon chain length.
abstract: Hierarchical, three-fold symmetrical dendritic gold was prepared in an aqueous solution of the quaternary ammonium cationic surfactant dodecyltrimethylammonium bromide (DTAB). Similar surfactants with different head groups and hydrocarbon chain lengths were also used for comparison. Two-fold and one-fold symmetrical dendritic gold nanostructures were obtained in N-dodecyl-N-methylpyrrolidinium bromide (C(12)-MPB) and dodecyltriethylammonium bromide (DTEAB) aqueous solutions, respectively. Longer hydrocarbon chain lengths were unfavorable for the formation of dendritic nanostructures. The interaction energies between the individual surfactants and Au (111) plane were calculated using molecular dynamics simulations. Based on a series of contrast experiments and molecular dynamics simulations, the possible growth mechanism and fabrication process of the dendritic structures were proposed. The DTAB-capped, three-fold gold dendrites exhibited good surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) sensitivity toward rhodamine 6G (R6G), indicating their potential for use in SERS-based detections and analysis. This work provides a simple and effective strategy for fabricating dendritic gold nanostructures in aqueous solutions.
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Colloid and Interface Chemistry, Shandong University, Ministry of Education, Jinan, 250100, PR China.
authors.forename: Deping
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Huang
authors.forename: Yuanyuan
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Qi
authors.forename: Xiangtao
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Bai
authors.forename: Lijuan
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Shi
authors.forename: Han
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Jia
authors.forename: Dongju
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Liqiang
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Zheng
mesh_terms: D002412:Cations / Q000737:chemistry; D006046:Gold / Q000737:chemistry*; D006838:Hydrocarbons / Q000737:chemistry*; D053768:Metal Nanoparticles / Q000737:chemistry*; D056004:Molecular Dynamics Simulation; D000644:Quaternary Ammonium Compounds / Q000737:chemistry*; D013501:Surface-Active Agents / Q000737:chemistry*; D014867:Water / Q000737:chemistry
chemical_list: D002412:Cations; D006838:Hydrocarbons; D000644:Quaternary Ammonium Compounds; D013501:Surface-Active Agents; D014867:Water; D006046:Gold; C022806:dodecyltrimethylammonium