title: Facile nucleation of gold nanoparticles on graphene-based thin films from Au₁₄₄ molecular precursors.
abstract: We demonstrate a facile and cost effective method to obtain gold nanoparticles on graphene by dispersing Au₁₄₄ molecular nanoclusters by spin coating them in thin layers on graphene-based films and subsequent annealing in a controlled atmosphere. The graphene-based thin films used for these experiments are prepared by solvent-assisted exfoliation of graphite in water in the presence of ribonucleic acid as a surfactant and by subsequent vacuum filtration of the resulting graphene-containing suspensions. Not only is this method easily reproducible, but it leads to gold nanoparticles that are not dependent in size on the number of graphene layers beneath them. This is a distinct advantage over other methods. Plasmonic effects have been detected in our gold nanoparticle-decorated graphene layers, indicating that these thin films may be useful in applications such as plasmonic solar cells and optical memory devices.
authors.affiliation: Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Western Ontario, London, ON N6A 3K7, Canada.
authors.forename: Andrei
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Venter
authors.forename: Mahdi
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Hesari
authors.forename: M Shafiq
authors.initials: MS
authors.lastname: Ahmed
authors.forename: Reg
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Bauld
authors.forename: Mark S
authors.initials: MS
authors.lastname: Workentin
authors.forename: Giovanni
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Fanchini