Preparation and Stabilization of Monodisperse Colloidal Gold by Reduction with Monosodium Glutamate and poly (Methyl Methacrylate)

In this research, gold nanoparticles are prepared via chemical reduction method by varying the concentrations of monosodium glutamate as reducing agent and stabilizer. Characterization studies are carried out using TEM, UV-visible, photoluminescence and FTIR spectroscopy. Image from TEM reveal that spherical shaped and well-dispersed gold nanoparticles were produced successfully. The absorption spectra exhibit a blue-shift with decreasing particle size. The quantum efficiency of gold nanoparticles is found to be higher for high concentrations of monosodium glutamate. However, this is negated by the fact that the particles exhibit the tendency to aggregate with higher concentrations of monosodium glutamate. In this work, PMMA is introduced as a capping agent to improve the stability of gold nanoparticles. The FTIR spectra confirms the influence of PMMA as a capping agent.