Optimization of Phase Transfer Methods of Gold Nanoprisms

Gold nanomaterials are used in several application areas, such as biosensing, nanomedicine and catalysis. Triangular nanoprisms (flat nanoobjects with a triangular base) gained much attention in the past few years due to their unique anisotropic shape, optical and plasmonic properties. In this work nanoprisms were prepared using a seed-mediated growth method in a polar solvent. The synthetized particles were examined with SEM (scanning electron microscopy) and their absorption spectra were also measured by spectrophotometry. The aim of the work is the investigation and optimization of phase transfer methods, namely, to transfer the nanoprisms from the polar environment of their synthesis to nonpolar, organic solvents, without nanoparticle aggregation or segregation. Test and optimization results with three such methods will be discussed in the paper in detail.