Accurate generation of attolitre droplets for directly printing gold nanoparticles from solution through confined reaction. (21st October 2020)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Huang, Yayu; Fang, Fei; Chen, Feifei; Cui, Xian; Sun, Jialin; Zhuang, Daming; Wei, Jinquan
• Is Part Of: Nano express. Volume 1:Number 3(2020)
• Publication Date: 2020-10-21
• Subjects: droplet -- confined reaction -- nanoparticles -- surface-enhanced Raman scattering; Nanotechnology -- Periodicals; Nanoscience -- Periodicals; 620.5
• DOI: 10.1088/2632-959X/abc051
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 2632-959X

Abstract

Abstract: Small droplets exist in nature widely and have attractive applications. Although there are some well-established techniques to produce small droplets, it is still a substantial challenge to generate and measure the volume of ultrafine droplets down to attolitres (aL) precisely. Here, we accurately generate ultrafine droplets in attolitre scale by an electrohydrodynamic jet method. By superimposing a low frequency pulse over a static electric field, the volumes of the ultrafine droplets are accurately controlled from 1 to 5 aL with the best accuracy of 0.3 aL and coefficient of variations less than 25%. Gold nanoparticles are deposited on substrate directly from the ultrafine droplets of HAuCl4 /H2 O solution through a confined reaction in a reducing environment. The gold nanoparticles exhibit highly sensitive and reproductive in surface-enhanced Raman scattering.