Synthesis of Pd-Au bimetallic nanocrystals via controlled overgrowth

This paper describes the synthesis of Pd-Au bimetallic nanocrystals with controlled morphologies via a one-step seeded-growth method. Two different reducing agents, namely, L-ascorbic acid and citric acid, were utilized for the reduction of HAuCl(4) in an aqueous solution to control the overgrowth of Au on cubic Pd seeds. When L-ascorbic acid was used as the reducing agent, conformal overgrowth of Au on the Pd nanocubes led to the formation of Pd-Au nanocrystals with a core-shell structure. On the contrary, localized overgrowth of Au was observed when citric acid was used as the reducing agent, producing Pd-Au bimetallic dimers. Through this morphological control, we were able to tune the localized surface plasmon resonance peaks of Pd-Au bimetallic nanostructures in the visible region.