Synthesis of Highly Concentrated, Monodispersed Au Nanoparticles for Precise Structural Control in the Self Assembly of Polymer-Grafted Nanoparticle Thin Films

Polymer grafted nanoparticles (PGNs) represent a novel class of materials which are processible using polymer additive manufacturing techniques, and have the additional<br/><br/>functionality of a wide variety of nanoparticle core types with a variety of properties including plasmonic, semiconducting, or magnetic properties. PGNs have a level of structural control that is beyond traditional composite materials, and can be defined by the particle-level and grafted molecular architecture (varying NP core size/shape, polymer grafting density and molecular weight). Gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) are desirable as NP cores due to their tunable size, versatile surface chemistry and added functionality from their strong interaction with optical fields. Despite significant advancements in the synthesis of AuNPs with a precise control over both size and shape, high yield production of AuNPs with a diameter &gt; 10 nm is still challenging. Herein, we demonstrated synthesis of highly concentrated (&gt; 5mg/mL) and monodispersed (RSD &lt; 5% ) AuNPs with tunable sizes and shapes ranging from 10 to 50 nm via optimization of reaction parameters based on the seed mediated protocol and strategic regrowth. Macroscale hyperuniform packing was achieved through a meticulously controlled mixture of PGNs with varying core sizes, and the hyperuniformity was assessed and compared with theoretical calculations.