Gold Nanonetwork Film on the ITO Surface
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Umar et al. Nanoscale Research Letters 2012, 7:252 http://www.nanoscalereslett.com/content/7/1/252 NANOEXPRESS Open Access Gold nanonetwork film on the ITO surface exhibiting one-dimensional optical properties Akrajas Ali Umar1*, Iwantono Iwantono2, Ariyanto Abdullah2, Muhamad Mat Salleh1 and Munetaka Oyama3 Abstract A network of gold nanostructures exhibiting one-dimensional gold nanostructure properties may become a prospective novel structure for optical, electrical and catalytic applications benefited by its unusual characteristics resulting from the collective properties of individual nanostructures in the network. In this paper, we demonstrate a facile method for the formation of high-density gold nanonetwork film on the substrate surface composed of quasi-1D nanoparticles (typically fusiform) with length ca. 10 nm - via reduction of gold ions in the presence of nanoseeds attached surface, binary surfactants of cetyltrimethylammonium bromide and hexamethyleneteramine and Ag+ ions. The length of the nanonetworks can be up to ca. 100 nm, which corresponds to the aspect ratio of ca. 10. The quasi-1D gold nanostructures as well as the nanonetworks were found to be sensitive to the binary surfactants system and the Ag+ ions as they can only be formed if all the chemicals are available in the reaction. The nanonetworks exhibit unique 1D optical properties with the presence of transverse and longitudinal surface plasmon resonance absorption. Owing to their peculiar structures that are composed of small quasi-1D nanoparticles, the nanonetworks may produce unusual optical and catalytic properties, which are potentially used in surface-enhanced Raman scattering, catalysis and optical and non-linear optical applications. Keywords: Nanonetworks, Quasi-1D gold nanoparticles, Seed-mediated growth, 1D nanostructures Background exposure to the electromagnetic irradiation resulting One-dimensional gold nanostructures, such as nanorods, from their anisotropic localised-plasmonic excitation nanowires, etc., have continued to be the objective of character [21,22], placing them as a potential agent for the research in the controlled-shape synthesis nowadays photodynamic therapy of cancer cells [19,23-26], optical due to its notable catalytic, electrical, magnetic and op- contrast agent and for diagnostic imaging applications tical characteristics [1-4]. Their optical absorption prop- [20,27,28]. As gold itself has high compatibility to a wide erties, in particular, are characterised by the presence of range of biomolecules and its peculiar surface morph- two unique strong localised-surface plasmon resonance ology is bounded normally by highly-energetic planes [5] bands near the 500 (transverse mode) and 650 nm ({110} and {100}) [1,3,29-31], these nanostructures be- (longitudinal mode) but tunable within the region of ca. come an attractive candidates for catalysts in bio-organic 400 to 550 nm and of ca. 600 to 800 nm, respectively. reactions [32,33] and chemical sensing applications This enables them to produce peculiar optical properties [20,23]. for use in a broad range of applications including nano- A wide range of methods are currently available for photonics [6-11], light-emitting diode [12], photovoltaics the preparation of gold nanorods with controlled shape, [13-17] and photosynthesis efficiency enhancement yield and aspect ratios in the solution. The synthetic [18,19] and optical sensing applications [20]. For ex- procedure as well as the mechanism of the formation ample, nanorods demonstrate a unique profile and has also been well-summarised in many recent reports enhanced energy of electron-wave scattering upon [1,3,5,29]. To mention a few examples, cetyltrimethylam- monium bromide (CTAB) surfactant-assisted seed growth method by Murphy et al. appeared as a versatile * Correspondence: [email protected] 1Institute of Microengineering and Nanoelectronics, Universiti Kebangsaan approach for the synthesis of gold nanorods with a con- Malaysia, UKM Bangi, Selangor 43600, Malaysia trolled aspect ratio in the solution [5,29,34]. A much Full list of author information is available at the end of the article © 2012 Umar et al.; licensee Springer. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. Umar et al. Nanoscale Research Letters 2012, 7:252 Page 2 of 9 http://www.nanoscalereslett.com/content/7/1/252 improved technique was later demonstrated by El-Sayed that exhibit those in one-dimensional nanostructures is and co-workers, in which, by modifying the seeding and of particular interest. adding of Ag+ into the growth solutions that was used Here, we report the synthesis of high-density networked by Murphy, nanorods with a yield of nearly 100 % could gold nanostructures directly on the surface exhibiting be achieved [35]. Effective facet-selective gold deposition unique one-dimensional gold nanoparticle characters. By process in the presence of silver ions in the growth solu- combining a special effect of AgNO3 in the formation of tion was considered as the key driving factor for the gold nanorods to our new growth solution that contains high-yield gold nanorod formation. However, in contrast cetyltrimethylammonium bromide and hexamethylenete- to such outstanding achievement in solution phase, their tramine using a seed-mediated growth method, high-yield growth directly on the surface has not yet been devel- networked gold nanostructures can be realised directly on oped. Since many applications, such as optoelectronic, the surface. Optical absorption spectrum analysis on the catalyst and surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS), sample surprisingly revealed that the nanostructures exhibit required that they are attached onto the surface, the one-dimensional properties, reflected by the presence of technique for growing the nanorods directly on the sur- two plasmonic bands on their spectrum. Therefore, they face should be developed. It is true that the solution could become a replica of gold nanorods on the surface to phase prepared gold nanorods may be transferred onto be used in SERS, catalysis and plasmonics enhanced opto- the surface via, for example, Langmuir-Blodgett [36] or electronics devices. drop and spin casting assemblies [37]; however, they are likely intricate and inadvertently expose the nanostruc- Methods tures to possible properties disruption during the process. Networked gold nanoparticles were grown directly on Therefore, to develop a method that enables the shape- the surface via our seed-mediated growth method. This controlled growth directly on the surface is crucial. technique comprises a two-step process, namely seeding Recently, we have grown metal nanoparticles directly and growth processes. In typical procedure, the seeding on the surface using a seed-mediated growth method process was carried out via in situ reduction of gold salt [38-40]. Gold nanoparticles with a variety of shapes, on the substrate sample [45]. Briefly, a clean ITO sub- such as nanoplates, nanocubes, etc., have been success- strate (surface resistance ca.30Ω/sq, CBC Ings Co. Ltd., fully prepared directly on the surface [41,42]. As for 1D Tokyo, Japan) was immersed into a solution that con- morphology, particularly in nanorods, considerable tains 0.25 mM HAuCl4 and 0.25 mM trisodium citrate. efforts have been devoted by us to synthesise them dir- The substrate was kept undisturbed in the solution at ectly on the surface. Unfortunately, so far their yield was 28°C for 1 h. After that, 0.5 mL of 0.1 M ice-cooled relatively low so that the unique 1D optical properties NaBH4 was added to the solution, and immediately, the that are indicated by the presence of two separate bands, gold nanoseeds formed in the solution as well as on the i.e. transverse and longitudinal SPRs, could not be surface. The sample was then kept in the solution for detected on their optical absorption spectra. Actually, another hour. After that, the sample was removed, we have also attempted many approaches to improve the rinsed with pure water and dried with a flow of nitrogen yield including the use of the well-known growth solu- gas. Using this approach, high-density gold nanoseeds tions for gold nanorods such as prescribed by Murphy's will be formed on the surface (see Figure 1A). [3,29,34,43], El-Sayed's [35] and Korgel's [44] groups The growth process was carried out by immersing the combined with our method. Unfortunately, again, these substrate that has been treated with the nanoseeds into attempts failed. This could be the result of unique a growth solution that contains 0.5 mL of 0.01 M of growth characteristic of gold nanostructures on the sur- HAuCl4, 8 mL of 0.1 M CTAB, 12 mL of 0.1 M hexam- face, which might be influenced by many factors includ- ethylenetetramine, 0.3 mL of 0.1 M ascorbic acid and 40 ing substrate surface-nanoseeds interaction effect, μL of 0.01 M of AgNO3. The sample was kept undis- substrate surface-solution interface characteristics (e.g. turbed for 4 h at 28°C for the growth process. If this wet-ability), and the nature of the precursors transport condition is used, the final concentration of each reagent to the growing crystallite on the surface, which produce is 0.25, 40, 60 and 1.5 mM and 20 μM for HAuCl4, a different crystal growth compared to that of in the so- CTAB, hexamethyleneteramine (HMT), ascorbic acid lution.