Synthesis and characterization of uncoated and cysteamine-coated gold nanoparticles by pulsed laser ablation

Abstract

Gold nanoparticles and cysteamine-coated gold nanoparticles are physically synthesized using the pulsed laser ablation in liquid technique, which is rapid, simple, and efficient one-step synthesis. UV-Vis analysis shows that the absorption band after cysteamine coating is shifted toward the lower wavelength range around ∼234nm as compared to gold nanoparticles' absorption band around ∼520nm. Moreover, the change in the color of the solution is due to the aggregation of nanoparticles after cysteamine coating. From transmission electron microscopy, cysteamine coating of ∼1nm thickness on gold nanoparticles is successfully carried out with narrow pore size distributions. Energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy analysis confirms the presence of cysteamine coating. Attenuated total reflectance Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy analysis also confirms the bond linkage between gold and cysteamine species.