Dose rate and irradiation time effects on the shape of Au nanomaterials under proton beam irradiation

A synthetic route is presented for the high yield production of Au nanomaterials via a simple proton beam irradiation process. We were able to prepare Au nanomaterials under a proton beam at low concentration of cetyltrimethylammonium bromide at room temperature. It was observed that the size and shape of the prepared gold nanocrystals were easily controlled by the dose rate and irradiation time of the proton beam. When the dose rate of the proton beam was kept constant, a shape transition of Au crystals from particles to nanorods/nanowires and then again to particles was observed as the duration time was increased. When the total dose was kept constant by varying the dose rate and duration time of the proton beam, there was an apparent change in the feature size and shape of the Au nanomaterials produced under proton beam irradiation. Once the dose rate reached a proper value, very similar feature shapes of gold nanocrystals were produced, as long as the total dose was constant.