Dissertations

Link to full text: http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:29-opus4-94019

Abstract

In this thesis we aimed to control the Ag patch formation site on non-spherical core particles via a curvature-sensitive crystal formation process, in order to synthesize patchy particles with precisely oriented chemical functionalities. In the first part of our work we unraveled the reaction mechanism of the Ag patch formation on SiO2 spheres by highlighting the formation of hydrogen bonds between the hydroxyl groups of SiO2 and the [Ag(NH3)2]+. By tuning the number of these interactions the patch growth can be directed either toward a diffusion- or integration-limited mechanism and the patch morphology is further affected by the core particle curvature. In the second part of this thesis we synthesized SiO2 coated triangular gold nanoprisms which have be used as core particle for investigating the effect of local differences in substrate curvature on the Ag heterogeneous nucleation and growth. Interestingly we observed that the patch formation does not follow Classical Nucleation Theory predictions but prefers to occur on high energy surfaces, leading to the decoration of nanoprism convex edges. In addition, Ag patch formation showed a preference for the core particle convex surface only when occurring under diffusion-limited growth and when the substrate curvature is high enough to prevent a conformal growth. Besides investigating how to control the patch position, we also studied the effect of inorganic ions and organic surfactants on the patch shape. Interestingly the anion PO43-, the cation Cu+, polystyrene sulfonic acid (PSS) and sodium citrate (NaCit) turned out to be quite effective in generating spheroidal or faceted Ag patches being promising for future studies. The work described in this thesis represents a novel method for controlling the patch position without the help of any template agent and synthesizing particles for self-assembly studies. Moreover the versatility of our method offers the possibility of controlling the patch shape and synthesizing patchy particles in other combinations of materials.

Abstract

In this dissertation, key steps in the development of facile aqueous phase processes for the synthesis of metal patchy particles are presented. Starting with a two-step route to produce silver patches on silica nanospheres, the work demonstrate how the approach could be both simplified and generalized to enable the growth of noble metal patches on various cores (silica, polystyrene and titania). To achieve this, the unprecedented combination of heterogeneous nucleation and surface conformal growth of metals on the curved surfaces of non-metallic particles had to be understood.
A key outcome of our study is evidence the electrostatics interaction is between the surface of core particles and metal precursors is of importance for heterogeneous nucleation, while both this aspect and reaction kinetics dominate the surface growth. This means that reactions can be designed to optimize both patch yield and morphology. Specifically, it was found that the morphology of silver patches on silica spheres could be varied from cup-like to dendritic by changing the reaction temperature and manipulating the addition rate of ammonium hydroxide. Moreover, the patch yield was also affected by many factors such as temperature, concentration and the thermal pretreatment of silica particles. The obtained patchy particles demonstrated morphology-dependent optical properties with plasmon resonances being tunable from the visible to the near infrared spectral regions.
Moving beyond silver as a patch material we demonstrated that by using a modified galvanic replacement approach, gold/silver alloy patches could prepared on silica spheres. Here, analysis by energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy revealed that the redistribution of silver in the patch was essential for its lateral growth over the core. The strategy for the fabrication of patches of other noble metals (i.e. gold or platinum) was further generalized by using cationic polystyrene particles as cores. The morphology of synthesized gold patches was found to be strongly influenced by the concentration of ascorbic acid, which played a role as both reducing agent and substrate for gold surface diffusion. Thus, manipulation of the concentration of ascorbic acid or the reaction pH value enabled the fabrication of a series of patch structures.
In an important step towards scale-up of the patchy particle synthesis, our batch reaction approach was successfully transferred to a continuous flow reactor. Due to improved mixing, it brought the advantages of higher reproducibility and tunability of patch morphology and also enabled in-line spectral analysis.
The simple processing techniques and tailored anisotropic materials produced in this work open up many exciting possibilities for future applications in catalysis, energy storage, optoelectronics and theranostics.

Abstract

In this thesis, a facile approach for preparation of regular one-dimensional metal nanostructures is presented which may have significant implications for the fabrication of functional devices in nanotechnology, like optical, electronic and catalytic components. The formation of one-dimensional silver nanoparticle assemblies on sub-micron silica spheres appeared to happen naturally via the liquid phase treatment of colloidal silica with diamminesilver(I) complex followed by washing, deposition on a substrate and ageing under ambient conditions. Electron microscopy reveals that, despite the lack of addition of reducing or templating agents, 5 – 10 nm silver nanoparticles are formed that are arranged in necklace-like assemblies on the silica spheres and up to a certain distance from them on the substrate. The random and irregular occurrence of these nanostructures was improved by developing a strategy to control homogeneity of diamminesilver(I) complex treatment and drying. This enabled the reproducible preparation of coatings on silicon wafers over a square centimetre range, which is the basis for further studies to exploit the potential optical and electronic properties of these nanostructures.

Since the shape stability of anisotropic nanostructures is essential to preserve structure-related properties and thus function, dynamic reshaping processes on the nanoscale were studied for anisotropic silver and gold nanoparticle systems. A new evaluation method for quantification of such shape transformation dynamics was developed, and it could be shown that surface passivation agents are necessary to stabilize the interface. This prevents the nanoparticles from transforming to spheres, being the thermodynamically most stable shape.

Furthermore, the gained knowledge of Stöber silica surface chemistry was used to coat them with Co3O4, a material being highly relevant for applications in lithium ion batteries. The acquired synthesis method can in future be transferred to bio-templated silica nanowires made from cellulose nanofibres being a promising candidate for a sustainable nanomaterial made from renewable biological sources.