Method for preparing gold nanorods having high catalytic activity by using femtosecond laser

A method for preparing gold nanorods having a high catalytic activity by using a femtosecond laser, comprising:

• (1) preparing a gold seed solution, comprising:
• adding a tetrachloroauric acid solution with a molar concentration of 0.01 mol/L into a cetyltrimethylammonium bromide solution with a molar concentration of 0.1 mol/L, further adding an ice sodium borohydride solution with a molar concentration of 0.01 mol/L, followed by quickly stirring for 2 to 4 min, thereby obtaining the gold seed solution, wherein molar concentrations of tetrachloroauric acid, cetyltrimethylammonium bromide and sodium borohydride in the gold seed solution are 0.3 to 0.5 mmol/L, 0.07 to 0.09 mol/L and 0.7 to 0.9 mmol/L, respectively;
• (2) preparing a gold nanorod solution by a seed solution growth process, comprising:
• mixing the cetyltrimethylammonium bromide solution with a molar concentration of 0.1 mol/L, the tetrachloroauric acid solution with a molar concentration of 0.01 mol/L and a silver nitrate solution with a molar concentration of 0.01 mol/L under stirring, and further adding an ascorbic acid solution with a molar concentration of 0.1 mol/L, thereby obtaining a mixed solution, wherein molar concentrations of cetyltrimethylammonium bromide, tetrachloroauric acid, silver nitrate and ascorbic acid in the mixed solution are 0.07 to 0.09 mol/L, 0.4 to 0.6 mmol/L, 0.06 to 0.07 mmol/L, and 0.6 to 0.9 mmol/L, respectively, and
• adding the gold seed solution of step (1) in the mixed solution, followed by standing for 3 h, thereby obtaining a gold nanorod solution, wherein in the gold nanorod solution, a volume ratio of the gold seed solution to the mixed solution is 1:(143 to 250);
• (3) subjecting the gold nanorod solution of step (2) to a centrifugal separation at a rotating speed of 5000 to 8000 rpm/min for 10 to 15 min to obtain the gold nanorods, and dropping the gold nanorods on a silicon substrate;
• (4) building a system for preparing the gold nanorods having the high catalytic activity by using the femtosecond laser, comprising the femtosecond laser, an attenuator plate, a half-wave plate, a first mirror, a second mirror, an electronically controlled shutter, a dichroic mirror, a frequency doubling crystal, a stage, a beam splitter, a lamp and a camera, wherein
• the femtosecond laser, the attenuator plate, the half-wave plate and the first mirror are arranged at one optical axis,
• a femtosecond laser pulse generated by the femtosecond laser passes through the attenuator plate to adjust energy thereof and further passes through the half-wave plate to adjust a polarization direction of the laser pulse,
• a propagation direction of the laser pulse is changed by the first and second mirrors, and the propagation direction of the laser pulse is further changed by the dichroic mirror after the laser pulse passes through the electronically controlled shutter,
• at one side of the dichroic mirror, the frequency doubling crystal and the stage are provided, a wavelength of the laser pulse is changed by the frequency doubling crystal, and the pulse reaches the stage, on which the silicon substrate provided with the gold nanorods is placed, and
• at the other side of the dichroic mirror, an observation system including the beam splitter, the lamp and the camera is provided, the lamp emits light that passes through the beam splitter, reaches the silicon substrate and is reflected back to the camera to observe preparation of the gold nanorods having the high catalytic activity;
• and
• (5) emitting a pulse of the femtosecond laser with a femtosecond laser fluence of 0.2 to 2.1 mJ/cm2, a femtosecond laser irradiation time of 5 to 15 min, and a femtosecond laser wavelength of 400 to 800 nm on the silicon substrate of step (3), to allow an electric field distribution of a surface of the gold nanorod on the silicon substrate to change, to partially exfoliate atoms on the surface of the gold nanorod, thereby obtaining the gold nanorods with the high catalytic activity.