2025/03/29 by Kei Kwan Li, Jianlong He, Qijia Huang +3 · 1 voice
Engineering · Materials Science · #Biosensors and Analytical Detection #Gold and Silver Nanoparticles Synthesis and Applications #Innovative Microfluidic and Catalytic Techniques Innovation
paper · pdf · doi:10.1021/prechem.4c00105
openalex publication_date 2025/03/29 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/26
High Resolution Image Download MS PowerPoint Slide Gold nanospheres with uniform sizes greater than 30 nm are essential to quantitative lateral flow immunoassays for the rapid detection of pathogens such as viruses, bacteria, and fungi. However, scaling up their synthesis for commercial applications remains challenging due to the necessity to introduce the precursor dropwise. Herein, we report the synthesis of Au cubes with an edge length of 30 nm using one-shot injection of the precursor, followed by aging to transform the cubes into uniform spheres of 35 nm in diameter. Our mechanistic study based on qualitative and quantitative analyses using surface-enhanced Raman scattering and inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry, respectively, suggests that Br – desorption from the surface of Au nanocubes at an elevated temperature was responsible for the shape transformation by inducing oxidative etching and atomic migration in the outermost layer. By eliminating the need for dropwise addition, this protocol is well-suited for the mass production of Au nanospheres in a continuous flow reactor for future incorporation into quantitative point-of-care sensors.