Characteristic optical properties and synthesis of gold–silica core–shell colloids

• DOI: 10.1016/j.scriptamat.2006.08.044
• Publication Date: 2006-10-03T12:04:53Z
• Authors: Hyung Bock Lee; Young Min Yoo; Young-Hwan Han
• Keywords: Nanometre; Gold Colloid; Amorphous silica; Colloidal Silica

This paper describes the synthesis of a gold–silica core–shell colloid that could be a building block for optical instruments such as photonic crystals and plasmonic waveguides. It was possible to directly coat gold nanoparticles with uniform shells of amorphous silica via a simplified process that did not use a silane coupling agent. The thickness of the silica shells could be varied from tens to several hundred nanometers by controlling the precipitation time and concentration of tetraethoxysilane.