Light-Mediated Growth of Gold Nanoplates Carried Out in Total Darkness.

The plasmon-mediated growth of noble metal nanoplates through the reduction of metal precursors onto resonantly excited seeds lined with planar defects stands out as one of the triumphs of photochemistry and nanometal synthesis. Such growth modes are, however, not without their drawbacks and, with a lack of suitable alternatives, limitations remain on the use of light as a synthetic control. Herein, a two-reagent seed-mediated gold nanoplate synthesis is demonstrated as a photochemical pathway where the illumination of the growth solution, as opposed to the emerging nanoplates, is the key requirement for growth.

Site-Selective Deposition of Silica Nanoframes and Nanocages onto Faceted Gold Nanostructures Using a Primer-free Tetraethyl Orthosilicate Synthesis.

The Stöber method for forming spherical silica colloids is well-established as one of the pillars of colloidal synthesis. In a modified form, it has been extensively used to deposit both porous and protective shells over metal nanomaterials. Current best-practice techniques require that the vitreophobic surface of metal nanoparticles be primed with a surface ligand to promote silica deposition.

Periodic arrays of structurally complex oxide nanoshells and their use as substrate-confined nanoreactors.

Sacrificial templates present an effective pathway for gaining high-level control over nanoscale reaction products. Atomic layer deposition (ALD) is ideally suited for such approaches due to its ability to replicate the surface topography of a template material through the deposition of an ultrathin conformal layer. Herein, metal nanostructures are demonstrated as sacrificial templates for the formation of architecturally complex and deterministically positioned oxide nanoshells, open-topped nanobowls, vertically standing half-shells, and nanorings.