A Dual Catalyst Strategy for Controlling Aluminum Nanocrystal Growth.

The synthesis of Al nanocrystals (Al NCs) is a rapidly expanding field, but there are few strategies for size and morphology control. Here we introduce a dual catalyst approach for the synthesis of Al NCs to control both NC size and shape. By using one catalyst that nucleates growth more rapidly than a second catalyst whose ligands affect NC morphology during growth, one can obtain both size and shape control of the resulting Al NCs. The combination of the two catalysts (1) titanium isopropoxide (TIP), for rapid nucleation, and (2) Tebbe's reagent, for specific facet-promoting growth, yields {100}-faceted Al NCs with tunable diameters between 35 and 65 nm. This dual-catalyst strategy could dramatically expand the possible outcomes for Al NC growth, opening the door to new controlled morphologies and a deeper understanding of earth-abundant plasmonic nanocrystal synthesis.

Mechanistic Insight into DNA-Guided Control of Nanoparticle Morphologies.

Although shapes and surface characteristics of nanoparticles are known to play important roles in defining their properties, it remains challenging to fine-tune the morphologies systematically and predictably. Recently, we have shown that DNA molecules can serve as programmable ligands to fine-tune the morphologies of nanomaterials. Despite this discovery, the mechanism of how the morphology can be controlled and the roles of the DNA molecules in contributing to such control are not understood. We herein report mechanistic investigation of DNA-mediated morphological evolution of gold nanoprism seeds into nonagon, hexagon, and six-pointed stars, some of which display rough surfaces, in the presence of homo-oligomeric T30, G20, C30, and A30. The growth, elucidated through various analytical methods including UV-vis, SEM, TEM, zeta potential, fluorescence, and cyclic voltammetry, is found to occur in two stages: control of shape, followed by control of thickness. A careful analysis of diffraction patterns of the nanoprism seeds as well as the resulting intermediate shapes by TEM allowed us to deduce the exact sequence of shape evolution. Through systematic comparison of the nanoparticle growth process, the DNA molecules were found to play important roles by influencing diffusion of the Au precursor to the seed and modulating the growth through differences in DNA desorption, density, and mobility on the seed surface. These insights into the mechanism of DNA-guided control of nanomaterial morphologies provide deeper understanding of the interactions between the DNA and nanomaterials and will allow better control of the shapes and surface properties of many nanomaterials.

Atomically precise nanoclusters predominantly seed gold nanoparticle syntheses.

Seed-mediated synthesis strategies, in which small gold nanoparticle precursors are added to a growth solution to initiate heterogeneous nucleation, are among the most prevalent, simple, and productive methodologies for generating well-defined colloidal anisotropic nanostructures. However, the size, structure, and chemical properties of the seeds remain poorly understood, which partially explains the lack of mechanistic understanding of many particle growth reactions. Here, we identify the majority component in the seed solution as an atomically precise gold nanocluster, consisting of a 32-atom Au core with 8 halide ligands and 12 neutral ligands constituting a bound ion pair between a halide and the cationic surfactant: Au32X8[AQA+•X-]12 (X = Cl, Br; AQA = alkyl quaternary ammonium). Ligand exchange is dynamic and versatile, occurring on the order of minutes and allowing for the formation of 48 distinct Au32 clusters with AQAX (alkyl quaternary ammonium halide) ligands. Anisotropic nanoparticle syntheses seeded with solutions enriched in Au32X8[AQA+•X-]12 show narrower size distributions and fewer impurity particle shapes, indicating the importance of this cluster as a precursor to the growth of well-defined nanostructures.

Aluminum Nanocubes Have Sharp Corners.

Of the many plasmonic nanoparticle geometries that have been synthesized, nanocubes have been of particular interest for creating nanocavities, facilitating plasmon coupling, and enhancing phenomena dependent upon local electromagnetic fields. Here we report the straightforward colloidal synthesis of single-crystalline {100} terminated Al nanocubes by decomposing AlH3 with Tebbe's reagent in tetrahydrofuran. The size and shape of the Al nanocubes is controlled by the reaction time and the ratio of AlH3 to Tebbe's reagent, which, together with reaction temperature, establish kinetic control over Al nanocube growth. Al nanocubes possess strong localized field enhancements at their sharp corners and resonances highly amenable to coupling with metallic substrates. Their native oxide surface renders them extremely air stable. Chemically synthesized Al nanocubes provide an earth-abundant alternative to noble metal nanocubes for plasmonics and nanophotonics applications.