Gold Nanooctahedra with Tunable Size and Microfluidic-Induced 3D Assembly for Highly Uniform SERS-Active Supercrystals

Shape-controlled synthesis of uniform noble metal nanoparticles (NPs) is crucial for the development of future plasmonic devices. The use of nanocrystals with well-defined morphologies and crystallinity as seed particles is expected to provide excellent shape control and monodispersity. We report the aqueous-based seed-mediated growth of monodisperse gold octahedra with wide range of sizes (50-150 nm in side length) by reducing different amounts of HAuCl4 on preformed single crystalline gold nanorods using butenoic acid as reducing agent. Butenoic acid plays a key role as a mild reducing agent as well as favoring the thermodynamic control of the reaction. The uniformity of the as-prepared Au octahedra combined with the use of a microfluidic technique based on microevaporation will allow the self-assembly of octahedra into uniform 3D supercrystals. Additionally, these plasmonic substrates exhibit high and uniform SERS signals over extended areas with intensities increasing with the Au nanoparticle size.