Premium
Droplet‐Based Microfluidic Synthesis of Anisotropic Metal Nanocrystals
Author(s) -
Duraiswamy Suhanya,
Khan Saif A.
Publication year - 2009
Publication title -
small
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 3.785
H-Index - 236
eISSN - 1613-6829
pISSN - 1613-6810
DOI - 10.1002/smll.200901453
Subject(s) - microfluidics , microchannel , materials science , nanocrystal , dispersity , nanotechnology , nanoparticle , rod , microreactor , colloidal gold , spheres , anisotropy , optics , chemistry , medicine , biochemistry , alternative medicine , physics , pathology , astronomy , polymer chemistry , catalysis
A droplet‐based microfluidic method for the preparation of anisotropic gold nanocrystal dispersions is presented. Gold nanoparticle seeds and growth reagents are dispensed into monodisperse picoliter droplets within a microchannel. Confinement within small droplets prevents contact between the growing nanocrystals and the microchannel walls. The critical factors in translating macroscale flask‐based methods to a flow‐based microfluidic method are highlighted and approaches are demonstrated to flexibly fine tune nanoparticle shapes into three broad classes: spheres/spheroids, rods, and extended sharp‐edged structures, thus varying the optical resonances in the visible–near‐infrared (NIR) spectral range.