Room Temperature Surfactant-Free Syntheses of Gold Nanoparticles in Alkaline Mixtures of Water and Alcohols: A Model System to Introduce Nanotechnology and Green Chemistry to Future Chemists and Engineers

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  • Author(s): Jonathan Quinson (ORCID Jonathan Quinson (ORCID 0000-0002-9374-9330)
  • Language:
    English
  • Source:
    Journal of Chemical Education. 2023 100(9):3612-3619.
  • Publication Date:
    2023
  • Document Type:
    Journal Articles
    Reports - Descriptive
  • Additional Information
    • Availability:
      Division of Chemical Education, Inc. and ACS Publications Division of the American Chemical Society. 1155 Sixteenth Street NW, Washington, DC 20036. Tel: 800-227-5558; Tel: 202-872-4600; e-mail: [email protected]; Web site: http://pubs.acs.org/jchemeduc
    • Peer Reviewed:
      Y
    • Source:
      8
    • Subject Terms:
      Chemistry; Engineering; STEM Education; Molecular Structure; Technology; Interdisciplinary Approach; Sustainable Development; Laboratory Experiments; Experiential Learning
    • Accession Number:
      10.1021/acs.jchemed.3c00492
    • ISSN:
      0021-9584
      1938-1328
    • Abstract:
      Gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) are textbook model systems to introduce "Nanomaterials" and "Nanotechnology" to students and laypersons. AuNPs are also suitable materials to raise awareness about the "Green Chemistry" principles. The unique optical and catalytic properties of nanosized gold make it ideal to timely develop hands-on experiments for nanomaterial synthesis requiring only few chemicals and simple equipment, such as a UV-vis spectrophotometer. While the Turkevich-Frens synthesis has been a preferred model system to date due to its simplicity, it still requires access to specific equipment and chemicals, e.g., to heat up the solution at relatively high temperature of ca. 100 °C. Various room temperature syntheses have been reported but suffer from relatively poor size control and/or the need for relatively harmful chemicals such as NaBH[subscript 4]. In contrast, room temperature and surfactant-free syntheses that only require HAuCl[subscript 4], water, an alcohol, such as ethanol, ethylene glycol, or glycerol, and a base at relatively low concentration (<10 mM) are presented and their benefits to develop hands-on experiments are highlighted. The concepts that these simple syntheses can convey cover topics as broad as "Nanotechnology," planning experimental screening of multiple variables, collaborative and open data science, or "Green Chemistry."
    • Abstract:
      As Provided
    • Publication Date:
      2024
    • Accession Number:
      EJ1445554