Gold nanoparticles self-assembled onto passivated glass substrates: Tuning the transition from 2D to 1D structures

In this work, we investigate the chemical conditions for inducing a self-organized growth of 2D and ID structures of gold nanoparticles (NPs), 50 nm diameter tri-sodium citrate stabilized, assembled onto chemically modified glass substrates through 3-Aminopropyltriethatoxysilane. The aggregation process of the nanoparticles on the silanised surface has been controlled by optimizing the concentration limit, immersion time and annealing process of NPs. A recipe to obtain the appropriate electrical charge conditions necessary for inducing the dimensionality transition of the organized nanostructures from 2D to ID has been determined through the comparison between two deposition routes employing different polar solvents (water and ethanol). The self-organized growth of gold NPs into structures of different dimensionality has been extensively investigated by Atomic Force Microscopy and discussed. (C) 2008 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.