Deposition of functionalized gold nanoparticles onto modified silicon substrates

In this report, an existing phase transfer method for the synthesis of alkylamine- or alkanethiol-functionalized gold nanoparticles (NPs) is investigated. A parameter study shows that the concentration of the gold salt used is important for the stability of the resulting sol, but has little effect on the final average particle size or the size distribution. By adding dodecanethiol before the reduction, the formation of NPs was inhibited, providing evidence for the autocatalytic pathway for the formation of metallic NPs in wet chemical synthesis proposed in the literature. The resulting functionalized gold NPs are deposited onto Si―OH, octadecyltrichlorosilane (OTS) or 3-mercaptopropyltrimethoxysilane modified SiO 2 /Si substrates. scanning electron microscope (SEM) is used to analyze the ordering behavior and surface coverage of the NPs and it is shown that the difference in affinity for the substrate has a profound effect on the deposition behavior. The functionalization of the substrates and of the NPs is confirmed by grazing angle attenuated total reflectance fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (GATR-FTIR).