Normal and Novel Nanoplates for Understanding Growth Mechanism

Solution-phase colloidal nanoplates in this chapter are pseudo-two dimensional (2D). For colloidal nanoplates, understanding the growth mechanisms is an essential task in nanoscience. In a solution-phase approach, the growth process of metal nanocrystals can be divided into three distinct stages: ions reduction and nucleation; evolution of aggregation and atomic addition into seeds; and oriented growth of seeds into nanocrystals. For both fundamental aspects and potential technological applications, great efforts have been made to design synthetic methods for producing Au and Ag nanostructures of different morphologies. Research efforts are still required to fully understand the growth mechanisms, guide the further design of synthesis methods, and tight control over the geometry of metal nanoplates, thereby leading to a wide range of related applications and paving the way for the use of nanostructures in nanoscience and nanotechnology.