Gold nanoparticles as advanced building blocks for nanoscale self-assembled systems

The goal of controlling materials on the nanoscale with the efficiency and elegancy of nature from a bottom up approach is a key ambition of nanoscience. Nanoparticles of different materials in a wide variety of shapes and sizes are a popular starting point due to their novel physical and chemical properties. If we had the ability to control precisely the surface properties of nanoparticles, we could direct their assembly into higher order structures to provide a route to new materials and devices, as well as synthetic analogues of biological macromolecular complexes. The scope of this review is to discuss and overview the current knowledge base and approaches that are used to control the surface properties of nanoparticles and to impart recognition functions to the nanoparticles that can drive self-assembly processes. The approaches discussed focus on the self-assembly and the self-organisation of ligands, in solution, on the surface of gold nanoparticles.