Colloidal Alchemy: Conversion of Polystyrene Nanoclusters into Gold

Isotropic plasmonic clusters consisting of a controlled number of gold satellites around a silica core are fabricated from silica/polystyrene tetrapod, hexapod, and dodecapod templates. The synthetic pathway includes stages of site-specific seed adsorption, seed-mediated growth, and iterative etching/regrowth to reshape the satellites into spheroids. Transmission electron microscopy and electron tomography provide evidence of the symmetry of the clusters. This work paves the way for comprehensive study of their optical properties.Advanced Materials by DesignInitiative d'excellence de l'Université de Bordeau