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We report the use of gold nanoparticle surface chemistry as a tool for site-selective noble metal deposition onto colloidal gold nanoparticle substrates. Specifically, we demonstrate that partial passivation of the gold nanoparticle surface using thiolated ligands can induce a transition from linear palladium island deposition to growth of palladium selectively at plasmonic hotspots on the edges or vertices of the underlying particle substrate. Further, we demonstrate the broader applicability of this approach with respect to substrate morphology (e.g., prismatic and rod-shaped nanoparticles), secondary metal (e.g., palladium, gold, and platinum), and surface ligand (e.g., surfactant molecules and n-alkanethiols). Taken together, these results demonstrate the important role of metal-ligand surface chemistry and ligand packing density on the resulting modes of multimetallic nanoparticle growth, and in particular, the ability to direct that growth to particle regions of impact such as plasmonic hotspots.

Bimetallic nanocatalysts have the potential to surmount current limitations in industrial catalysis if their electronic and optical properties can be effectively controlled. However, improving the performance of bimetallic photocatalysts requires a functional understanding of how the intricacies of their morphology and composition dictate every element of their optical response. In this work, we examine Au and Pt-decorated Au nanorods on a single-particle level to ascertain how Pt influences the plasmon resonance of the bimetallic nanostructure. We correlated scattering, photoluminescence, and pure absorption of individual nanostructures separately to expose the impact of Pt on each component. We found that the scattering and absorption spectra of uncoated Au nanorods followed expected trends in peak intensity and shape and were accurately reproduced by finite difference time domain simulations. In contrast, the scattering and absorption spectra of single Pt-decorated Au nanorods exhibited red-shifted, broad features and large deviations in line shape from particle to particle. Simulations using an idealized geometry confirmed that Pt damps the plasmon resonance of individual Au nanorods and that spectral changes after Pt deposition were a consequence of coupling between Au and Pt in the hybrid nanostructure. Simulations also revealed that the Au nanorod acts as an antenna and enhances absorption in the Pt islands. Furthermore, comparing photoluminescence spectra from Au and Pt-decorated Au nanorods illustrated that emission was significantly reduced in the presence of Pt. The reduction in photoluminescence intensity indicates that Pt lowers the number of hot carriers in the Au nanorod available for radiative recombination through either direct production of hot carriers in Pt following enhanced absorption or charge transfer from Au to Pt. Overall, these results confirm that the Pt island morphology and distribution on the nanorod surface contribute to the optical response of individual hybrid nanostructures and that the damping observed in ensemble measurements originates not only from structural heterogeneity but also because of significant damping in single nanostructures.

Driven by the desire to understand energy transfer between plasmonic and catalytic metals for applications such as plasmon-mediated catalysis, we examine the spatially resolved electron energy-loss spectra (EELS) of both pure Au nanoprisms and Pt-decorated Au nanoprisms. The EEL spectra and the resulting surface-plasmon mode maps reveal detailed near-field information on the coupling and energy transfer in these systems, thereby elucidating the underlying mechanism of plasmon-driven chemical catalysis in mixed-metal nanostructures. Through a combination of experiment and theory we demonstrate that although the location of the Pt decoration greatly influences the plasmons of the nanoprism, simple spatial proximity is not enough to induce significant energy transfer from the Au to the Pt. What matters more is the spectral overlap between the intrinsic plasmon resonances of the Au nanoprism and Pt decoration, which can be tuned by changing the composition or morphology of either component.

Catalytic and optical properties can be coupled by combining different metals into nanoscale architectures in which both the shape and the composition provide fine-tuning of functionality. Here, discrete, small Pt nanoparticles (diameter = 3-6 nm) were grown in linear arrays on Au nanoprisms, and the resulting structures are shown to retain strong localized surface plasmon resonances. Multidimensional electron microscopy and spectroscopy techniques (energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy, electron tomography, and electron energy-loss spectroscopy) were used to unravel their local composition, three-dimensional morphology, growth patterns, and optical properties. The composition and tomographic analyses disclose otherwise ambiguous details of the Pt-decorated Au nanoprisms, revealing that both pseudospherical protrusions and dendritic Pt nanoparticles grow on all faces of the nanoprisms (the faceted or occasionally twisted morphologies of which are also revealed), and shed light on the alignment of the Pt nanoparticles. The electron energy-loss spectroscopy investigations show that the Au nanoprisms support multiple localized surface plasmon resonances despite the presence of pendant Pt nanoparticles. The plasmonic fields at the surface of the nanoprisms indeed extend into the Pt nanoparticles, opening possibilities for combined optical and catalytic applications. These insights pave the way toward comprehensive nanoengineering of multifunctional bimetallic nanostructures, with potential applications in plasmon-enhanced catalysis and in situ monitoring of chemical processes via surface-enhanced spectroscopy.

Small gold nanoparticles (∼1.4-2.2 nm core diameters) exist at an exciting interface between molecular and metallic electronic structures. These particles have the potential to elucidate fundamental physical principles driving nanoscale phenomena and to be useful in a wide range of applications. Here, we study the optoelectronic properties of aqueous, phosphine-terminated gold nanoparticles (core diameter = 1.7 ± 0.4 nm) after ligand exchange with a variety of sulfur-containing molecules. No emission is observed from these particles prior to ligand exchange, however the introduction of sulfur-containing ligands initiates photoluminescence. Further, small changes in sulfur substituents produce significant changes in nanoparticle photoluminescence features including quantum yield, which ranges from 0.13 to 3.65% depending on substituent. Interestingly, smaller ligands produce the most intense, highest energy, narrowest, and longest-lived emissions. Radiative lifetime measurements for these gold nanoparticle conjugates range from 59 to 2590 μs, indicating that even minor changes to the ligand substituent fundamentally alter the electronic properties of the luminophore itself. These results isolate the critical role of surface chemistry in the photoluminescence of small metal nanoparticles and largely rule out other mechanisms such as discrete (Au(I)-S-R)n impurities, differences in ligand densities, and/or core diameters. Taken together, these experiments provide important mechanistic insight into the relationship between gold nanoparticle near-infrared emission and pendant ligand architectures, as well as demonstrate the pivotal role of metal nanoparticle surface chemistry in tuning and optimizing emergent optoelectronic features from these nanostructures.

Energy transfer from plasmonic nanoparticles to semiconductors can expand the available spectrum of solar energy-harvesting devices. Here, we spatially and spectrally resolve the interaction between single Ag nanocubes with insulating and semiconducting substrates using electron energy-loss spectroscopy, electrodynamics simulations, and extended plasmon hybridization theory. Our results illustrate a new way to characterize plasmon-semiconductor energy transfer at the nanoscale and bear impact upon the design of next-generation solar energy-harvesting devices.

Nanoscale platinum materials are essential components in many technologies, including catalytic converters and fuel cells. Combining Pt with other metals can enhance its performance and/or decrease the cost of the technology, and a wide range of strategies have been developed to capitalize on these advantages. However, wet chemical synthesis of Pt-containing nanoparticles (NPs) is challenging due to the diverse metal segregation and metal-metal redox processes possible under closely related experimental conditions. Here, we elucidate the relationship between Pt(IV) speciation and the formation of well-known NP motifs, including frame-like and core-shell morphologies, in Au-Pt systems. We leverage insights gained from these studies to induce a controlled transition from redox- to surface chemistry-mediated growth pathways, resulting in the formation of Pt NPs in epitaxial contact and linear alignment along a gold nanoprism substrate. Mechanistic investigations using a combination of electron microscopy and (195)Pt NMR spectroscopy identify Pt(IV) speciation as a crucial parameter for understanding and controlling the formation of Pt-containing NPs. Combined, these findings point toward fully bottom-up methods for deposition and organization of NPs on colloidal plasmonic substrates.

Seedless initiation has been used as a simple and sustainable alternative to seed-mediated production of two canonical anisotropic gold nanoparticles: nanorods and nanoprisms. The concentration of reducing agent during the nucleation event was found to influence the resulting product morphology, producing nanorods with lengths from 30 to 630 nm and triangular or hexagonal prisms with vertex-to-vertex lengths ranging from 120 to over 700 nm. The seedless approach is then used to eliminate several chemical reagents and reactions steps from classic particle preparations while achieving almost identical nanoparticle products and product yields. Our results shed light on factors that influence (or do not influence) the evolution of gold nanoparticle shape and present a dramatically more efficient route to obtaining these architectures. Specifically, using these methods reduces the total amount of reagent needed to produce nanorods and nanoprisms by as much as 90 wt % and, to the best of our knowledge, has yielded the first report of spectroscopically discernible, colloidal gold nanoplates synthesized using a seedless methodology.