Novel single-phase and gram-scale synthesis of thiol-uncapped stable colloidal gold nanoparticles

Here we describe a new chemical route for obtaining nanometer-sized gold(0) particles with a narrow size distribution and a band gap of 1.45 eV. The synthetic method is based on the reduction of AuBr3 with t-BuOLi activated LiH in dioxane. The single-phase process developed allows the production of large quantities of stable thiol-uncapped gold(0) nanoparticles. These clusters were further used for the production of monodisperse Au nanoparticles with controlled surface properties through ligand exchange with 1-dodecanethiol or 1-decylamine.