The red-shift of surface plasmon absorption of 2D nanogold arrangement from disordered to ordered

In this article, the changing of surface plasmon resonance (SPR) absorption of 2D arrangement of Au (3 nm) nanoparticles coated with 1-dodecanethiol (C12H25SH), obtained at different desolvation extents, had been investigated. It has been found that an obvious red-shifted happened when these arrays changed from loose, disordered to close-packed and ordered. Both transmission electron microscopy pictures and variation of SPR absorption of these arrays showed that the formation of long range two-dimension (2D) arrangement of nanoparticles coated with C12H25SH might be involved in two stages: At the first stage the particles can move freely and random patterns from loose to close package was driven by the Brownian Movement of solvated particles and as a result the voids were eliminated. The red shift of SPR absorption with the coverage (d lamda/d theta) is relative low. At the second stage, where the particles cannot move freely because of lack of solvent and a long-range two-dimension crystal was formed, the SPR shift to a longer wavelength with a larger d lamda/d theta. It is mainly attributed to the strong increase of the orientation and dipolar moment of the absorbed C12H25SH molecule on nanoparticles.