Polymer-gold dispersions

Z. J. Grzywna, J. Stolarczyk, Modelling of gold dispersion in glassy polymers by Smoluchowski equation, Int. J. Modem Phys. C, 13, 9 (2002). 

Au, Fe, and Cr sols were prepared by the reduction of their hydroxides by hydrazine hydrate in a matrix of water-soluble polymers, and dispersions of particles of Pd (1-2 nm) and Au (1-13 nm) were obtained in synthetic rubber films. Polymeric films prepared from aqueous solutions of PVAl and AgNOs were treated with photographic reducing agents (hydroquinone, p-phenylenediamine, pyrogallol, etc.) to produce die corresponding metallocomposite materials. Monodispersed hyperfine powders of gold and platinum were prepared by the reduction of... 

The preparation and study of metal nanoparticles constitutes an important area of current research. Such materials display fascinating chemical and physical properties due to their size [62, 63]. In order to prevent aggregation, metal nanoparticles are often synthesized in the presence of ligands, functionalized polymers and surfactants. In this regard, much effort has focused on the properties of nanoparticles dispersed into LCs. In contrast, the number of nanoparticles reported that display liquid crystal behavior themselves is low. Most of them are based on alkanethiolate stabilized gold nanoparticles. 

The polymer resulting from oxidation of 3,5-dimethyl aniline with palladium was also studied by transmission electron microscopy (Mallick et al. 2005). As it turned out, the polymer was formed in nanofibers. During oxidative polymerization, palladium ions were reduced and formed palladium metal. The generated metal was uniformly dispersed between the polymer nanofibers as nanoparticles of 2 mm size. So, Mallick et al. (2005) achieved a polymer- metal intimate composite material. This work should be juxtaposed to an observation by Newman and Blanchard (2006) that reaction between 4-aminophenol and hydrogen tetrachloroaurate leads to polyaniline (bearing hydroxyl groups) and metallic gold as nanoparticles. Such metal nanoparticles can well be of importance in the field of sensors, catalysis, and electronics with improved performance. 

However, thermoplasmonics has been limited to the use of gold nanoparticles typically dispersed in aqueous media, polymer matrices and cellular systems, but never immobilised as a nanoarray to fabricate a light-responsive substrate for bio-applications. 

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