Seed Number Density-controlled Synthesis of Au@SiO2 Nanoparticles

In this paper, we systematically investigated the synthesis of Au@SiO2 NPs in isopropanol medium using Frens Au colloids as seeds. It shows that the yield of mononucleate Au@SiO2 NPs is dependent on the amount of the catalyst added, the feeding rate of the silicon source, and especially the number density of the Au seeds introduced. Following these findings, highly monodispersed 200, 320, and 450 nm Au@SiO2 NPs were synthesized, which are ideal building blocks for construction of functional materials.