Real-time single-molecule monitoring and control of nanoparticle formation

17 July 2023, Version 3
This content is a preprint and has not undergone peer review at the time of posting.

Abstract

Methods capable of controlling synthesis at the level of an individual nanoparticle are a key step towards improved reproducibility and scalability in engineering complex nanomaterials. To address this, we combine spatially-patterned activation of the photoreductant sodium pyruvate with interferometric scattering microscopy to achieve fast, label-free monitoring and control of hundreds of gold nanoparticles in real-time. Individual particle growth kinetics are well-described by two-step nucleation autocatalysis model, but with a distribution of individual rate constants that changes with reaction conditions.

Keywords

interferometric microscopy
nanoparticle synthesis
photoreduction

Supplementary materials

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Movie S1
Description
iSCAT imaging of Gold Nanoparticle formation via citrate reduction, corresponding to the data in Figure 1 of the main manuscript.
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