Heat-Induced Formation of Monodisperse Gold Nanoparticles in Different Conditions

We investigate the preparation of nearly monodisperse gold nanoparticles by heat treatment in different conditions. The effects of various solvents, heating temperature, and heating time length on the monodispersity of gold nanoparticles were studied systematically and a general route to generate gold nanoparticles with uniform size was determined. The first step was to prepare gold nanoparticles with less than 3 nm and the following operation was to heat the gold nanoparticles in the present of thiolated solvents where monodispersed gold nanoparticles could be obtained easily. Our approach has enriched synthesis of monodisperse gold nanoparticles, and may provide some valuable experimental data about how the heating process affects the size evolution of gold nanoparticles.