Photochemical synthesis of gold nanoparticles via controlled nucleation using a bioactive molecule

Abstract Synthesis of gold nanoparticles had been achieved using dopamine hydrochloride (dhc), an important bioactive molecule in a photochemical way. Solutions containing sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS), HAuCl 4 and dhc were photoirradiated to form gold nanoparticles. Gold nanoparticles in different size range was obtained by varying the concentration of dhc. The growth of different-sized gold with time was monitored. The particles were characterized by absorption spectra and TEM analysis. The procedure involved a new technique for gold nanoparticle preparation and was simple, reproducible and required single step.