An investigation of the thermal decomposition of gold acetate

The thermal decomposition characteristics of gold acetate to produce gold nanoparticles were investigated. A rapid and violent fragmentation of the gold acetate particles was observed at approximately 103 +/- 20A degrees C when a rapid heating rate of 25A degrees C min(-1) was used, leading to formation of nanosized spherical and partially coalesced gold particles. Particle size analysis was used to investigate possible relationships between the gold acetate crystallite size and the gold nanoparticles produced by thermal decomposition. The results indicate rapid (< 0.14 ms) coalescence of the gold particles occurs for fragments in close proximity.