Graduation Year

2010

Document Type

Thesis

Degree

M.Ch.E

Degree Granting Department

Chemical and Biomedical Engineering

Major Professor

Vinay Gupta, Ph.D.

Co-Major Professor

Kirpal Bisht, Ph.D.

Committee Member

Norma Alcantar, Ph.D.

Keywords

resorcinarenes, macrocycles, anisotropic gold nanoparticles, metalnanoparticles, binary surfactant synthesis

Abstract

The unique properties of gold nanoparticles make them excellent candidates for applications in electronics, sensing, imaging, and photothermal therapy. Though abundant literature exists for isotropic gold nanoparticles, work on nanoparticles of different shapes has been gaining interest recently. Anisotropic gold nanoparticles, such as nanorods and nanoprisms, have tunable optical properties in the visible and near-infrared regions. Through synthesis and surface modification, the production of various shapes of these gold nanoparticles can be controlled to meet different applications.

Two different types of gold nanorods were used in this thesis. The first type was stabilized with cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB) and had aspect ratios of 3-4 (defined as the nanorod length divided by the diameter). The second type was synthesized using CTAB and benzyldimethylhexadecylammonium chloride (BDAC) in a binary surfactant system which produced aspect ratios greater than 4. The nanorods were characterized with UV-Vis spectroscopy and transmission electron microscopy (TEM).

Two types of bowl-shaped macrocyclic compounds called resorcinarenes were used to direct self-assembly of the nanorods. The first type of resorcinarene (R2S) consisted of thiol(SH)-terminated alkyl chains on both rims. The second type (R1S) contained thiol-terminated alkyl chains on only one rim. The monolayer formation of these resorcinarenes on planar gold surfaces was studied and characterized by FTIR spectroscopy. Resorcinarene-mediated assembly of gold nanorods was monitored with UV-Vis spectroscopy, dynamic light scattering (DLS), and TEM. In addition to gold nanorods, gold nanoprisms were synthesized through a kinetically-controlled reduction route in the presence of CTAB. The linking of nanoprisms using resorcinarenes was also explored.

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