title: A facile synthesis of gold micro/nanostructures at the interface of 1,3-dibutylimidazolium bis(trifluoromethylsulfonyl)imide and water.
abstract: The development of a simple, template-free, and one-step strategy to synthesize nanostructured Au architectures with fascinating morphology is highly desirable and technically important due to their valuable applications in varied fields. In this work, the "green" strategy of "tunable ionic liquids-water (ILs-H2O) interfacial synthesis" developed previously by us is utilized for feasible synthesis of gold needle mushroom-like micro/nanostructures at the 1,3-dibutylimidazolium bis(trifluoromethylsulfonyl)imide ([C4bim][Tf2N]) - water interface and ambient conditions. The as-obtained gold needle mushrooms (AuNMs) have been characterized and analyzed systemically by scanning electron microscopy, X-ray powder diffraction, energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy, and transmission electron microscopy. It is shown that the as-prepared AuNMs can be used as substrates to perform surface enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) investigation with striking SERS sensitivity. By employing ILs with different alkyl chain lengths of the imidazolium cations and/or different nature of anions, Au nanomaterials with diverse morphologies can be easily prepared at different ILs-H2O interfaces. Based on the analysis of the control experiments, the growth and formation of AuNMs at the [C4bim][Tf2N]-H2O interface have been discussed.
authors.affiliation: School of Chemical Engineering and Pharmaceutics, Henan University of Science and Technology, Luoyang, Henan 471023, PR China; Collaborative Innovation Center of Henan Province for Green Manufacturing of Fine Chemicals, Key Laboratory of Green Chemical Media and Reactions, Ministry of Education, School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Henan Normal University, Xinxiang, Henan 453007, PR China.
authors.forename: Kaisheng
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Yao
authors.affiliation: School of Chemical Engineering and Pharmaceutics, Henan University of Science and Technology, Luoyang, Henan 471023, PR China.
authors.forename: Qingling
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Huang
authors.affiliation: School of Chemical Engineering and Pharmaceutics, Henan University of Science and Technology, Luoyang, Henan 471023, PR China.
authors.forename: Weiwei
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Lu
authors.affiliation: School of Chemical Engineering and Pharmaceutics, Henan University of Science and Technology, Luoyang, Henan 471023, PR China.
authors.forename: Airong
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.affiliation: Collaborative Innovation Center of Henan Province for Green Manufacturing of Fine Chemicals, Key Laboratory of Green Chemical Media and Reactions, Ministry of Education, School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Henan Normal University, Xinxiang, Henan 453007, PR China.
authors.forename: Xinying
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Collaborative Innovation Center of Henan Province for Green Manufacturing of Fine Chemicals, Key Laboratory of Green Chemical Media and Reactions, Ministry of Education, School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Henan Normal University, Xinxiang, Henan 453007, PR China.
authors.forename: Hucheng
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Collaborative Innovation Center of Henan Province for Green Manufacturing of Fine Chemicals, Key Laboratory of Green Chemical Media and Reactions, Ministry of Education, School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Henan Normal University, Xinxiang, Henan 453007, PR China. Electronic address: jwang@htu.cn.
authors.forename: Jianji
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Wang
keywords: 1,3-Dibutylimidazolium bis(trifluoromethylsulfonyl)imide; Au needle mushrooms; Ionic liquids; SERS investigation; Tunable interfacial synthesis