One Pot Synthesis of Large Gold Nanoparticles with Triple Functional Ferrocene Ligands

In biomedical, toxicological, and optoelectronic applications, the size of nanoparticles is one of the decisive factors. Therefore, synthesis of nanoparticles with controlled sizes is required. The current methods for synthesis of larger gold nanoparticles (GNPs, ~200 nm) are complex and tedious, producing nanoparticles with a lower yield and more irregular shapes. Using ferrocene as a primary reducing agent and stabilizer, sodium citrate as a dispersant, and sodium borohydride as an accessory reducing agent, GNPs of 200 nm were synthesized in a one pot reaction. Besides the roles of reducing agent and GNP stabilizer, ferrocene also served a role of quantitative marker for ligand loading, allowing an accurate determinate of surface ligands.