Colloidal synthesis of inorganic nanocrystals is a rapidly evolving area of materials science that holds great promise for future technological applications. Our ability to control the evolution of nanoparticle shapes in growth reactions, however, is still just developing. The grand challenge lies in understanding the effect of the reaction parameters, such as precursor concentration, solvent temperature, and ligand chemistry on the processes of nanocrystal nucleation and growth. Here, we develop an experimental strategy for monitoring the time-dependent monomer concentration during the hot-injection synthesis of Ag nanoparticles. By measuring the relative concentration of Ag-ions immediately before the nucleation burst, we were able to elucidate the role of reaction parameters on the rate of nucleation and the ensuing nanoparticle morphology.  In particular, we show that the nucleation rate increases with temperature linearly, which is explained by increase diffusivity of monomers.

Temperature dependence of the nanocrystal nucleation revealed through plasmon resonance of bimetallic nanoparticles

250th National Meeting (2015)

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