Self‐Organized Nanocomposite of Gold Nanoparticles and π‐Electron Organic Molecules

Aggregates of gold nanoparticles were formed by simple addition of a dithiafulvene derivative (DF) to an acetonitrile solution containing gold ions. The discrete gold nanoparticles in the aggregates were separated by monolayers of oxidized DF. No aggregation was observed with the addition of poly(vinylpyrrolidone) (PVP), which acted as a strong stabilizer and inhibited self‐assembly of the gold nanoparticles. DF acted as a reducing agent for gold ions, a stabilizer, and a tether for the resulting gold nanoparticles. Intermolecular S···S interaction and Au–S bonds might be the driving force for the self‐assembly of the gold nanoparticles.

Keywords:

• dithiafulvene derivative
• reducing agent
• stabilizer
• tether of gold nanoparticles

Acknowledgements

The National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC) is gratefully acknowledged for financial support (No. 50403004). This work was supported by the Program for New Century Excellent Talents, Shanghai Nanotechnology Promotion Center (No. 0452NM079), Scientific Research Foundation for the Returned Overseas Chinese Scholars, Grant‐in‐Aid for Scientific Research (No. 16310086) from the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science, and Technology, Government of Japan, and 21st Century COE program, COE for a United Approach to New Material Science.