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Light scattering investigations on mercury ion induced amalgamation of gold nanoparticles in aqueous medium

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Abstract

With the aids of SEM, XPS measurements, localized plasmon resonance light scattering (PRLS) spectrometry and light scattering imaging, investigations on the amalgamation process of both cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB) and citrate-coated gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) in the presence of Hg2+ showed that the Au-Hg amalgam process of gold nanoparticles is surface coating dependent in aqueous medium, and the scattering light color change of AuNPs under a dark-field microscope is blue-shifted from red-orange into yellow-orange or even yellow. The former one involves the reduction of Hg2+ to Hg0 species and adsorption of Hg0 on the surfaces of AuNPs, while the later one indicates the shape-evolution of AuNPs.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Education Ministry Key Laboratory on Luminescence Real-Time Analysis; College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Southwest University, Chongqing, 400715, China

    WenJing Qi, Yi Wang, Jian Wang & ChengZhi Huang

  2. College of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Southwest University, Chongqing, 400715, China

    ChengZhi Huang

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  1. WenJing Qi
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  2. Yi Wang
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  3. Jian Wang
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  4. ChengZhi Huang
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Correspondence to ChengZhi Huang.

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Qi, W., Wang, Y., Wang, J. et al. Light scattering investigations on mercury ion induced amalgamation of gold nanoparticles in aqueous medium. Sci. China Chem. 55, 1445–1450 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11426-012-4494-0

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11426-012-4494-0

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