Inorganic Nanotubes as Templates for the Selective Formation of Gold Nanostructures

Priyadarshi Ranjan, Department of Organic Chemistry, Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot, Isreal
Sreejith Shankar Pooppanal, Department of Organic Chemistry, Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot, Isreal
Bojana Visic, Department of Materials and Interfaces, Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot, Isreal
Ifat Kaplan-Ashiri, Department of Chemical Research Support, Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot, Isreal
Ronit Popovitz-Biro, Department of Chemical Research Support, Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot, Isreal
Michal Lahav, Department of Organic Chemistry, Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot, Isreal
Reshef Tenne, Department of Materials and Interfaces, Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot, Isreal
Milko E. van der Boom, Department of Organic Chemistry, Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot, Isreal

Inorganic nanotubes of WS₂ (INT-WS₂) have been efficiently and homogeneously coated by gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) of 5 nm diameter. This process is likely driven by lattice matching of these crystalline materials. Thermolysis of these composites results in the on surface fusion of the AuNPs to form structures that consists of INT-WS₂ decorated with a single Au particle (50-100 nm). During the fusion process, no dissociation of the smaller AuNPs is observed. Addition of a chemical reagent (dodecanethiol) results in the release of the large particles from the nanotubes. The size of these particles depends upon the surface area of the nanotubes and the coverage of the AuNPs. The procedure is lucid and might also applied to decorate inorganic fullerenes of MoS₂ and the corresponding 2D nanosheets. Optical properties of on the AuNPs decorated INT-WS₂ have been studied.