Electric Field Induced Au Nanoparticles with Controllable Morphology Under Surfactantless Condition

A facile and green method is presented to fabricate Au nanostructures with different morphologies based on electric field induced redox in a HAuCl₄ solution in absence of any surfactant and polymeric template. The obtained Au nanoparticles are of controllable morphologies (triangle, decahedron or nano-aggregate), simply depending on the electric field applied in the solution. The formation of the different morphological Au nanostructures is attributed to stacking-fault induced anisotropic growth. This study is of importance in understanding the role of nucleation rate in the formation of different nanostructures of noble metals. Also, these Au nanoparticles with clean surfaces are beneficial for the application in surface enhanced Raman scattering or medical diagnosis.