Comparison of galvanic displacement and electroless methods for deposition of gold nanoparticles on synthetic calcite

Gold nanoparticles have been deposited on synthetic calcite substrate by galvanic displacement reaction and electroless deposition methods. A comparative study has shown that electroless deposition is superior compared to galvanic displacement reaction for uniform deposition of gold nanoparticles on calcite. Characterization of the samples, prepared by two different deposition methods, was carried out by X-ray diffraction, transmission electron microscopy, field emission scanning electron microscopy (FE–SEM) and diffuse reflectance spectroscopy (DRS) measurements. FE–SEM studies prove that smaller nanoparticles of gold are deposited uniformly on calcite if electroless deposition method was employed and DRS measurements show the characteristic surface plasmon resonance of gold nanoparticles.