Method for Preparing Metal Nanocube with Controlled Corner Sharpness Index

Abstract

The present invention relates to a method for preparing a metal nanocube with a controlled corner sharpness index, comprising a step of reacting with a first surfactant and a predetermined surface-protecting agent; a method for preparing a metal nanocube aggregate having a purity of 95% or more, comprising a step of centrifuging in the presence of a second surfactant; a probe composition comprising the metal nanocube or metal nanocube aggregate prepared by the method; and a gold (Au) nanocube having an average edge length of 20 nm or less.

Claims

1. A method for preparing a metal nanocube with a controlled corner sharpness index (CSI) represented by Equation 1 below, comprising: a step of determining the amount of a surface-protecting agent, in which the amount of the surface-protecting agent to be added in a step of preparing a mixed aqueous solution below is determined based on a surface area and a CSI of the metal nanocube to be finally prepared; a step of preparing the mixed aqueous solution, in which a first surfactant, the surface-protecting agent in an amount determined according to the step of determining an amount of the surface-protecting agent, and metal nanoparticles with an average diameter of 3 nm to 30 nm are mixed to prepare the mixed aqueous solution; and a step of adding a metal ion precursor, in which the mixed aqueous solution is reacted by adding a reducing agent and a precursor solution comprising metal ions thereto, wherein the metal is gold (Au), silver (Ag), palladium (Pd), platinum (Pt), copper (Cu), aluminum (Al), lead (Pb), or a combination thereof: $\begin{array}{cc}\mathrm{CSI}\equiv \frac{\mathrm{EL}-2.Math..Math.\mathrm{CR}}{\mathrm{EL}}& \mathrm{Equation}.Math..Math.1\end{array}$ wherein, in Equation 1 above, EL represents an edge length, which is defined as the shortest distance from one point on a flat surface of a metal nanocube to another surface parallel thereto; and CR represents a corner radius, which is defined as the radius of a circle that perfectly matches a corner curvature.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising: a step of performing centrifugation and redispersion, in which a reaction solution according to the step of adding a metal ion precursor is centrifuged, and the precipitate is recovered and redispersed in another solution; and a step of adding a second surfactant and performing centrifugation to obtain a metal nanoeube aggregate, in which the second surfactant is added to the redispersed reaction solution and the mixture is centrifuged.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein a metal nanocube is provided at a purity of 95% or higher with deviation in a CSI value controlled to be within ±10%.

4. The method of claim 2, wherein a metal nanocube is provided at a purity of 95% or higher with deviation in an edge length controlled to be within ±10%.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein, with respect to the metal nanocube to be finally prepared, when the CR value is less than 5 nm or the CSI value is 0.7 or higher, the amount of the surface-protecting agent to be added determined in the first step is the number of molecules, which is 200- to 700-fold greater than the surface area value (unit nm.sup.2) of the metal nanoeube to be finally prepared.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein, with respect to the metal nanocube to be finally prepared, when the CR value is 5 nm or greater or the CSI value is less than 0.7, the amount of the surface-protecting agent to be added determined in the first step is the number of molecules, which is less than 200-fold or in a range of greater than 700- to 10,000-fold compared to the surface area value (unit mm.sup.2) of the metal nanocube to be finally prepared.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the metal nanocube has an average edge length of 15 nm to 300 nm.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the first surfactant is used at a concentration of 30 mM to 70 mM relative to the volume of the total solution being used.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein the reducing agent is used at a concentration of 0.1 mM to 0.5 mM relative to the volume of the total solution being used.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein the precursor solution comprising metal ions is used at a concentration of 0.1 mM to 0.4 mM relative to the volume of the total solution being used.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein the surface-protecting agent is NaBr and the reducing agent is ascorbic acid.

12. The method of claim 1, wherein the step of adding a metal ion precursor is performed by adding a reducing agent and a precursor solution comprising metal ions to the mixed aqueous solution simultaneously, sequentially, or at different times to be reacted.

13-15. (canceled)

16. A probe composition comprising the metal nanocube prepared by the method of claim 1.

17. The probe composition of claim 16, wherein the composition is optically detectable, or wherein the composition indicates a signal for light extinction, fluorescence, or scattering.

18. (canceled)

19. The probe composition of claim 16, wherein the composition is to be used for a sensor, bioimaging, or treatment.

20. The probe composition of claim 16, wherein the composition is capable of qualitative analysis, multiple analysis, quantitative analysis, or two or more thereof simultaneously.

21. The probe composition of claim 16, wherein the metal nanocube is surface-modified.

22. A gold (Au) nanocube with an average edge length of 20 nm or less.

23. The gold nanocube of claim 22, wherein the deviation of an edge in a CSI value is controlled to be within ±10%, or the deviation of an edge length is controlled to be within ±10%.

24. The gold nanocube of claim 22, wherein the average edge length is in a range of 10 nm to 20 nm.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

[0058] FIG. 1 shows schematic diagrams illustrating the methods for synthesis and refinement of shape-controlled AuNCs according to the present invention. FIG. 1a shows a schematic diagram illustrating selective surface-protection-directed anisotropic growth for sharpness-controlled AuNCs with varied bromide density. The proposed mechanism of modifying reaction kinetics is based on the preferential adsorption of bromide ion to the (100) facet of AuNC. FIG. 1b shows a schematic diagram illustrating synthesized AuNC refinement by centrifugation-driven depletion-induced flocculation in surfactant micelle solutions and subsequent redispersion in DIW. The bottom images show attractive osmotic pressure between AuNCs during the aggregation.

[0059] FIG. 2 shows TEM images illustrating the shapes of AuNCs according to an embodiment of the present invention and nanoparticles according to Comparative Examples 1 and 2. The scale bars indicate 100 nm.

[0060] FIG. 3 shows images illustrating nanocubes prepared by adjusting the shape and/or corner sharpness by a method according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 3a shows representative TEM images of the AuNCs obtained by adjusting the bromide concentration from 0 mM to 200 mM at a fixed seed amount of a gold precursor. The TEM images correspond to the AuNCs prepared using a bromide concentration of 0 mM, 1 mM, 40 mM, and 200 mM from left to right, respectively. The scale bars indicate 20 nm. FIG. 3b shows the CSI values of the AuNCs of FIG. 3a.

[0061] FIG. 4 shows a graph illustrating bromide-concentration-dependent growth kinetics obtained using a UV-vis spectrophotometer.

[0062] FIG. 5 shows TEM images illustrating the characterization of shape-controlled AuNCs. FIG. 5a shows TEM images of refined AuNCs prepared using different amounts of seed and bromide, and the insets show representative single-particle images to clearly visualize the difference in sharpness. The numbers in the labels correspond to edge length, and R and S indicate round-cornered AuNCs and sharp-cornered AuNCs, respectively. From left to right, each column was obtained with 300 μL, 9 μL, 6 μL, and 2 μL of a seed solution at the same concentration, respectively. In addition, the bromide concentration was varied at a fixed seed amount to control the corner sharpness, thereby obtaining R AuNCs and S AuNCs. FIG. 5b shows low-magnification SEM images illustrating AuNCs obtained in a high yield after refinement. The scale bars indicate 1 μm.

[0063] FIG. 6 shows drawings illustrating the characterization of shape-controlled AuNCs. FIG. 6a shows definitions of edge length (EL), corner radius (CR), and corner sharpness index (CSI). FIG. 6b shows the edge length and the corner radius of a series of AuNCs according to embodiments of the present invention; and FIG. 6c shows the CSIs of a series of AuNCs according to embodiments of the present invention. FIG. 6d shows the calculated number of added bromide ions per AuNC for a series of AuNCs according to embodiments of the present invention. FIG. 6e shows normalized UV-vis spectra for a series of AuNC solutions according to embodiments of the present invention. Solid lines and dashed lines correspond to R AuNCs and S AuNCs, respectively.

[0064] FIG. 7a shows low-magnification SEM images of 37R AuNCs and 32S AuNCs. The scale bars indicate 1 μm.

[0065] FIG. 7b shows low-magnification SEM images of 41R AuNCs and 41S AuNCs. The scale bars indicate 1 μm.

[0066] FIG. 7c shows low-magnification SEM images of 54R AuNCs and 53S AuNCs. The scale bars indicate 1 μm.

[0067] FIG. 7d shows low-magnification SEM images of 78R AuNCs and 72S AuNCs. The scale bars indicate 1 μm.

[0068] FIG. 8 shows a graph illustrating representative extinction spectra before and after refinement for 50R AuNCs.

[0069] FIG. 9 shows drawings illustrating the results of far-field scattering analysis of AuNCs at the single-particle level. FIG. 9a shows dark-field microscope images of individual AuNCs and FIG. 9b shows Rayleigh scattering spectra acquired from 25 different AuNCs and indicated continuously. FIG. 9c shows Rayleigh scattering spectra, which correspond to the data indicated in white dotted line in FIG. 9b. The scale bars in FIG. 9a indicate 0.2 μm. FIGS. 9d to 9f show maximum peak position, scattering intensity at maximum peak, and spectral linewidth according to the size and shape of AuNCs, respectively; and FIG. 9g shows a diagram illustrating the reproducibility of synthesis by three-dimensionally arranging a series of Rayleigh scattering spectra of 53S AuNCs acquired from repeated experiments.

[0070] FIG. 10 shows drawings illustrating the results of single-particle SERS analysis for the plasmonic nanogap between the nanocubes in a dimer of 78R AuNCs and 72S AuNCs. FIG. 10a shows a schematic diagram of the dimer of 78R AuNCs and 72S AuNCs using 1,4-benzenedithiol; FIG. 10b shows a Raman enhancement factor by the formation of a dimer derived by simulation; FIG. 10c shows TEM images of individual dimers; FIG. 10d shows the results of plotting the signals according to the polarization direction of the laser in the dimer;

[0071] FIG. 10e shows a Raman signal of the corresponding dimer; and FIGS. 10f and 10g show the distribution of Raman enhancement factors measured from 22 individual dimers, which are indicated in a log scale and a linear scale, respectively.

[0072] FIG. 11 shows TEM images, in which FIG. 11a shows a TEM image of the nanoparticles synthesized on a large scale in Example 3; and FIG. 11b shows a TEM image of the resulting products obtained by a single refinement of a nanoparticle solution having a total volume of 10 mL.

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION

[0073] Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in more detail with reference to the following Examples. However, these Examples are for illustrative purposes only, and the scope of the invention is not limited by these Examples.

[0074] <Materials>

[0075] Hexadecyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB), ascorbic acid (AA), and gold chloride trihydrate (HAuCl.sub.4.3H.sub.2O) were purchased from Sigma-Aldrich. Sodium borohydride was obtained from DaeJung Chemicals & Metals. Hexadecyltrimethylammonium chloride (CTAC) was purchased from Tokyo Chemical Industry (TCI). Deionized water (DIW; Milli-Q, >18.0 MΩ) was used in all of the experiments. All chemicals were used as received without further purification.

PREPARATION EXAMPLE 1

Synthesis of Nanosphere Seeds with 10 nm Diameter

[0076] CTAC-capped 10 nm gold nanospheres were synthesized according to the protocol disclosed by Zheng, Y. et al. (Part. Part. Syst. Charact., 2014, 31: 266-273). All solutions were prepared based on DIW. First, CTAB-capped seeds with a size of 1 nm to 2 nm were prepared. To synthesize these seeds, 9.75 mL of a 100 mM CTAB solution was mixed with 250 μL of a 10 mM HAuCl.sub.4 solution inside a 50 mL round-bottom flask. Subsequently, 600 μL of a freshly prepared ice-cold 10 mM NaBH.sub.4 solution was quickly added thereto. The resulting solution was mixed for 3 minutes and stored at 27° C. for 3 hours before the next step. Then, 10 nm gold nanospheres were synthesized with the seeds prepared as described above. 2 mL of 200 mM CTAC, 1.5 mL of 100 mM ascorbic acid, and 50 μL of the previously prepared CTAB-capped seed solution were sequentially mixed inside a 10 mL vial. 2 mL of a 0.5 mM HAuCl.sub.4 solution was injected thereinto with a single shot while mixing the solution at a constant speed. The solution was incubated at room temperature for 15 minutes with constant mixing at 300 rpm. Then, the solution was centrifuged twice at 20,600 g for 30 minutes; that is, the solution was first redispersed in DIW (1 mL) and then in a 20 mM CTAC solution (1 mL) for future use.

EXAMPLE 1

Synthesis of Nanocubes with Controlled Size and/or Shape

[0077] The synthesis of nanocubes (NC) was performed in 20 mL glass vials. These vials were cleaned with acetone and DIW before use. In each vial, 100 mM CTAC (6 mL) was mixed with sodium bromide (30 μL) at an appropriate concentration as described in Table 1 below. The previously prepared 10 nm seed solution was diluted to have an OD of 5.6 at 520 nm, and was added thereto in a volume indicated in Table 1 below. A 10 mM ascorbic acid solution (390 μL) was added thereto and mixed thoroughly. Finally, a 0.5 mM HAuCl.sub.4 solution (6 mL) was added thereto with a single shot while mixing the solution at 500 rpm. The resulting solution was incubated with mixing for 19 minutes, and then centrifuged and redispersed in DIW twice.

EXAMPLE 2

Refinement of Nanocubes

[0078] The nanocubes synthesized according to Example 1 were precipitated by centrifugation.

[0079] The precipitate was redispersed in a 10 mM CTAB solution such that the resulting solution could have a two-fold concentration compared to the original nanocube solution. A calculated amount of the stock solution of benzyldimethyldodecylammonium chloride (BDAC, Sigma-Aldrich) and DIW was added thereto so as to obtain the same nanocube concentration along with an appropriate BDAC concentration for each sample as described in Table 1 below. DIW was added thereto so as to prevent the occurrence of unwanted flocculation.

[0080] The solution was mixed and centrifuged according to appropriate conditions. Since 18R and 17S were too small to be aggregated, they were excluded from the purification process. 37R and 32R were centrifuged at 1,000 rpm for 10 minutes. Other samples were centrifuged at 500 rpm for 5 minutes. The supernatants were removed with a micropipette, and the remaining precipitates were redispersed in DIW.

TABLE-US-00001 TABLE 1 Bromide BDAC Seed Volume Concentration Concentration Sample (μL) (mM) (mM) 18R 300 20 — 17S 300 120 — 37R 30 2 100  32S 30 40 60 41R 9 5 60 41S 9 20 50 54R 6 6 40 53S 6 20 33 78R 2 2 40 72S 2 20 18

COMPARATIVE EXAMPLE 1

Method of Synthesizing Nanoparticles Using CTAB Instead of CTAC, But Not Using Any Additional Bromide Source

[0081] Gold nanoparticles were prepared in a similar manner as in Example 1, except that CTAB of the same concentration and volume was used instead of CTAC, and DIW of the same volume was used instead of sodium bromide.

COMPARATIVE EXAMPLE 2

Method of Synthesizing Nanoparticles Using CTAB as Bromide Source, But Not Using CTAC

[0082] Gold nanoparticles were prepared in a similar manner as in Example 1, except that the same volume of DIW was used instead of CTAC so as to contain CTA in an insufficient amount, and the same volume of 20 mM CTAB was used instead of sodium bromide as a bromide source.

EXAMPLE 3

Large-Scale Production and Refinement of Nanocubes

[0083] Gold nanoparticles were synthesized on a large scale by increasing the scale of the reaction solution based on Example 1. The experimental method used is as follows: the volumes of all of the solutions used in Example 1 were increased by the same factor, but to facilitate the addition of a HAuCl.sub.4 solution at once, DIW for dilution into the corresponding volume of 0.5 mM HAuCl.sub.4 was added first, followed by the addition of a concentrated 10 mM HAuCl.sub.4 solution in a required amount.

[0084] As a result, it was confirmed that the gold nanocube synthesis could also be performed in a reaction solution having a volume of 248 mL, which is 20 times the scale of Example 1, and that gold nanocubes of about 10 mg or more could be obtained therefrom. FIG. 11 a shows a TEM image of the nanoparticles synthesized on a large scale.

[0085] Since nanocubes are nanoparticles that are formed by kinetic control, the control of the reaction rate is a very important factor.

[0086] In the existing methods for synthesizing gold nanocubes, there are differences in terms of synthesis yield or shape of the particles depending on the stirring conditions for a reaction solution (i.e., stirring speed, stirring method, etc.), thus resulting in insufficient reproducibility and difficulty in increasing the synthesis scale.

[0087] According to the inventors' understanding, existing literature on gold nanocube synthesis has never shown any example with regard to a large-scale gold nanocube synthesis achieved through a synthesis in a reaction solution with a volume of about 50 mL or less, and the amount of the synthesized product and the volume of the reaction solution were limited. However, according to the preparation method of the present invention, nanocubes can be obtained with high reproducibility even when a thorough mixing is performed using a stirring bar, and additionally, uniform nanocubes can be successfully prepared even if the scale is increased by 20 times or more.

[0088] In addition, the refinement of nanoparticles in Example 2 can be performed in bulk. In the case of Example 2, the refinement was performed so that the total volume of the mixed solution before centrifugation could be 0.2 mL, but it was confirmed that the refinement was well performed even when the total volume was increased to 10 mL. FIG. 1 lb shows a TEM image of the resulting products obtained by a single refinement of a nanoparticle solution having a total volume of 10 mL, and from which it was confirmed that the high-purity refinement was well performed even when the scale was increased.

EXPERIMENTAL EXAMPLE 1

Dark-Field Measurement of Images and Spectra

[0089] Dark-field (DF) images were obtained with a 40× objective lens. For 78R and 68S, the exposure time was set at 80 milliseconds, whereas for 41R, the exposure time was set at 120 milliseconds. DF spectra were measured in an inverted microscopy system (Ntegra, NT-MDT). An oil condenser with a numerical aperture (NA) of 1.3 was used for DF measurements. UNPLAN (60×, NA 0.90, air objective) was used for scattering spectra measurements. Cleaned glass was prepared by sonication in acetone and DIW for 5 minutes each. The samples were prepared by drop-casting gold nanocubes (AuNCs) on the cleaned glass followed by spin-coating by microcentrifugation. Spectra were acquired from randomly selected particles observed in DF, with an exposure time of 3 seconds.

EXPERIMENTAL EXAMPLE 2

Raman Measurement

[0090] Samples for Raman measurements were prepared by drop-casting an AuNC solution, mixed with 1,4-benzenedithiol (BDT), on a TEM grid. Raman measurements were performed using an inverted microscopy system (Ntegra, NT-MDT) equipped with UNPLAN (100×, NA 1.3, oil). Particles were identified as a single particle by correlation of the Rayleigh scattering image with the TEM image. Each Raman signal was acquired by exposure on linearly polarized 785 nm lasers (230 μW) for 30 seconds. The signals were detected by a charge-coupled device (CCD) cooled to −70° C. (Andor Newton DU920P BEX2-DD). The enhancement factor was calculated by comparing signals from a 2.5 mM 1,4-benzenedithiol (BDT) bulk solution. The spectra were acquired by exposure on a linearly polarized 785 nm laser (17.6 μW) for 180 seconds using a low-magnification lens (PLAN N, 10×, NA 0.25, air). Differences in lenses were calibrated using the measurement results of 1 mM rhodamine 6G measured with two lenses each. It was assumed that the signals are proportional to the laser power and acquisition time.

[0091] The excitation volume is assumed to be cylindrical and the height of the excitation volume was calculated to be 28 fL. One BDT molecule on a thin gold film was assumed to have a molecular footprint of 5.4×10.sup.−19 m.sup.2 and a height of 7.6×10.sup.−19 m, and based on this assumption, the enhancement factor (EF) was calculated by the following Equation by calculating the number of molecules in a gap using the volume of the molecule and the volume of the hot spot:

[00002]$\mathrm{EF}=\frac{I_{\mathrm{SERS}}.Math.N_{\mathrm{Bulk}}}{I_{\mathrm{Bulk}}.Math.N_{\mathrm{Gap}}}$

EXPERIMENTAL EXAMPLE 3

Simulations

[0092] Finite element method (FEM) simulations were performed using commercial software (COMSOL) in the scattered-field mode. Linearly polarized plane-wave excitation was used. The nanocube model was based on TEM image analysis.

[0093] To create a model similar to the system of the present invention, two modelled nanocubes were placed in parallel, and the gap between the structures was 1.1 nm. Both nanocubes were modelled as gold. The gap length was calculated based on the TEM image analysis. The surrounding medium, including the gap, was modelled in air.

EXPERIMENTAL EXAMPLE 4

Instruments

[0094] TEM and SEM images were obtained by JEM-2100 (JEOL) and Helios NanoLab 650 (FEI) systems, respectively, at the National Center for Inter-University Research Facilities ((NCIRF), Seoul National University, Korea).

[0095] <Results>

[0096] First, selective surface-protection-directed anisotropic growth of AuNCs was performed. Starting from cetyltrimethylammonium chloride (CTAC)-capped gold nanospheres (10 nm), a seed-mediated growth reaction with CTAC, NaBr, and ascorbic acid was conducted at room temperature, and the process is schematically illustrated in FIG. 1a. In this step, the growth kinetics, which depend on bromide concentration, determined the corner sharpness of AuNCs being produced. The growth habits of nanocrystals were determined by the ratio between growth rates of different facets. In order to induce anisotropic growth and create cubic nanostructures, the growth rate along the [100] facet was decreased as the growth rate along the [110]/[111] facet became relatively higher, whereby the (100) facet could be preferentially exposed. Once the amount of bromide was controlled so that the bromide could be favourably adsorbed to the (100) facet, the relative growth rate difference between (100) and the other facets was altered, resulting in forming round-cornered or sharp-cornered AuNCs. When bromide densities were less than 100 ions/nm.sup.2, the number of bromide ions was insufficient to completely block the (100) facet. Therefore, the relative growth rate difference between the [100] facet and the [110]/[111] facet was not significantly changed, and thereby round-cornered AuNCs were formed. When a sufficient amount of facet-directing agents (about 350 ions/nm.sup.2) was provided, the effective and preferential binding to the (100) facet decreased the reduction rate while the (111)/(110) facet was less affected by bromide ions, and thereby sharp-cornered AuNCs were formed. When the bromide concentration was excessive, they could be adsorbed on the (111)/(110) and (100) surfaces, thereby decreasing the overall growth rate and rate difference between facets. The shape-selective sedimentation of synthesized AuNCs was employed so as to maximize product yields (FIG. 1b). The above method is based on centrifuge-driven depletion-induced flocculation, which consists of the aggregation of AuNCs using surfactant micelles and the reversible redispersion of only the sedimented nanoparticles. When particles were dispersed in the surfactant solution above the critical micelle concentration, exclusion of micelle molecules from the space between AuNCs resulted in osmotic pressure, thereby inducing inter-particle aggregation. The aggregation was applied so as to select nanorods or nanobipyramids among mixtures of nanoparticles, and it typically took more than 10 hours to make NPs settle. In the present invention, the sedimentation time was significantly reduced due to brief centrifugation. After centrifuging the nanoparticle solution in the surfactant micelle solution, the inter-particle distance between AuNCs was decreased, and effective aggregation could occur within a very short period of time. Since the attractive force between two particles is proportional to the surface areas facing each other, nanocubes (NCs) with flat surfaces are advantageous compared to those with curved surfaces (e.g., rods) or with smaller faces (e.g., bipyramids). In the present invention, it was possible to achieve AuNC yields of 95% or above by adjusting the micelle concentration to selectively induce AuNC aggregation.

[0097] In addition, the roles of each component used in the method of preparing the AuNCs according to the present invention, in which the shape and/or corner sharpness are controlled, were confirmed. For this purpose, AuNCs were prepared by the method of Example 1 as an experimental group using 100 mM CTAC (6 mL) and 20 mM sodium bromide (30 μL) as a source of bromide ions. Furthermore, the shapes of the nanoparticles prepared in Comparative Example 1 as a comparative group, in which a sufficient amount of a surfactant was used but CTAB (containing bromide instead of chloride) was used in the same amount, and DIW was used instead of a sodium bromide solution as an additional source of bromide ions; and the shapes of the AuNCs and nanoparticles prepared under the above-described three conditions were observed by SEM, and the results are shown in FIG. 2. As shown in FIG. 2a, the AuNCs according to the present invention prepared using a sufficient amount of a surfactant (i.e., CTAC) and a small amount of sodium bromide were uniformly prepared in the form of cubes. However, in the case of Comparative Example 1, where nanoparticles were prepared using a sufficient amount of a surfactant (i.e., CTAB instead of CTAC) and bromide ions, although individual particles showed certain crystal shapes, the shape and size of these particles were not uniform, and a particle mixture where particles (e.g., nanorods, nanoprisms, etc. (instead of nanocubes)) were mixed was formed as shown in FIG. 2b, and it was difficult to refine high-purity nanocubes therefrom. Furthermore, when CTAB was added at the same concentration level as the bromide which was provided by sodium bromide in Example 1 (i.e., in the case of Comparative Example 2, where the surfactant was used at a significantly low concentration), as shown in FIG. 2c, irregular nucleation occurred in the solution as well as on the surface of the seed particles and formed a mixture of amorphous particles in which both size and shape were not defined.

[0098] Furthermore, it was confirmed in the present invention that corner sharpness can be fine-tuned. AuNCs with different corner sharpnesses were obtained with varying bromide concentrations from 0 mM to 200 mM (FIG. 3). With increasing bromide concentration, the corner sharpness increased first and then decreased. The size of AuNCs was slightly decreased at the highest bromide concentration because the number of by-products had increased. To study the mechanism of corner sharpness control, the present inventors have explored the growth kinetics during shape evolution by UV-vis spectroscopy. The bromide concentration was varied while maintaining the same amounts of CTAC, seed, and ascorbic acid (AA). After adding gold precursors, the changes in extinction intensity were monitored at 10-second intervals at each maximum localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR) wavelength (i.e., 544 nm in the condition of 1 mM NaBr; 560 nm in the condition of 40 mM NaBr; and 556 nm in the condition of 200 mM NaBr) of the fully grown structure (FIG. 4). The slow increase of extinction for 200 mM indicates that increasing the bromide concentration disrupts reduction, supporting the synthesis mechanism proposed in FIG. 1a. In the present invention, it was confirmed that only the introduction of seeds initiates the growth event; therefore, additional nucleation without seeds was not detected in UV-vis measurement.

[0099] To substantiate the above principle, the present inventors have adopted simultaneous control of the size and corner sharpness by changing the amounts of seed and bromide. The amount of seed was adjusted by the volume of a seed solution (e.g., 300 μL, 30 μL, 9 μL, 6 μL, and 2 μL). In addition, the concentration of bromide was varied so as to control the corner sharpness at a fixed amount of seed. A lower density of bromide was applied to produce round-cornered AuNCs. As the overall size decreased, the concentration of bromide added to yield AuNCs decreased. This result is due to the decrease in the number of particles, although the surface area increased significantly with larger AuNCs. Following the preparation, the AuNCs were dispersed in a BDAC solution and centrifuged for 5 to 10 minutes. Since aggregation force has a positive correlation with the overlaid surface area between nanoparticles and micelle concentration, the concentration required for aggregation decreased as AuNCs became larger. TEM images show different sizes of refined AuNCs, and the insets show representative images to clearly visualize structural variations (FIG. 5a). Each column represents the result of adjusting the amount of seed, and the top and bottom rows correspond to round-cornered AuNC and sharp-cornered AuNC, respectively. To analyze the structural features of each AuNC based on the TEM images, edge length was defined as the distance between the two ends of AuNCs and corner radius as the radius of the circle that perfectly matches with the corner curvature (FIG. 6a). Numbers indicated in the samples represent the edge length, and R and S correspond to round-cornered nanocubes (NCs) and sharp-cornered nanocubes (NCs), respectively. After the refinement, the yield was improved to 95% or higher for all of the AuNCs except the smallest (larger SEM images in FIG. 5b and FIG. 7). The 32S AuNCs were shown to have similar aggregation potentials to by-products of gold nanorods, providing yields of about 95%. The yields acquired for other AuNCs exceeded 97% (n>400). It was difficult to find an appropriate surfactant to make the smallest aggreagte due to their low surface area. With decreasing seed volume, the edge length increased from 17 nm to 78 nm. The corner radius was plotted in FIG. 7b so as to intuitively show the sharpness. The synthesis of AuNCs smaller than 25 nm using solution methods was not expected to be possible because the self-diffusion coefficient of gold atoms (3 nm to 12 nm) is higher than those of other metals such as platinum (0.3 nm to 1 nm), inhibiting the effective exposure of the (100) facet by promoting the movement of gold atoms from higher-energy (111) to lower-energy (100). Nevertheless, AuNCs with an edge length of 17 nm were successfully synthesized by the method of the present invention. This is the smallest size for AuNCs known to date.

[0100] The present inventors have proposed the term “corner sharpness index (CSI)” to characterize sharpness regardless of edge length. The method of defining the CSI is schematically shown in FIG. 6a. Sharper nanocubes (NCs) have CSI values closer to 1. While the CSI values of four large, sharp-cornered AuNCs were similar, the CSI value of 17S was lower than those of others (FIG. 6c). A reasonable explanation for this was the relatively high surface tension due to the small size of 17S. To provide stoichiometry information for sharp-cornered AuNCs, the number of bromide ions required per AuNC was calculated (FIG. 6d). This was not the number of ions adsorbed on the surface, but rather corresponded to the number of ions added. The linear relationship between surface area and the number of bromide ions added reveals a uniform density of bromide ions of about 390 ions/nm.sup.2, regardless of size. This result provided a rough estimate of the number of bromide ions required for the formation of sharp-cornered AuNCs with a specific size. Normalised UV-vis spectra for a series of AuNC solutions showed a gradual red-shift as the corner became more sharpened and as the edge length increased due to the retardation effect (FIG. 6e). Narrower spectral bandwidths after refinement indicate highly monodisperse AuNCs (FIG. 8).

[0101] In the present invention, it was noted that optical properties of AuNCs can be tuned by adjusting their structures. The Rayleigh scattering signal was measured at the single-particle level using a dark-field (DF) microscope and the results are shown in FIG. 9a. As shown in FIG. 9, the DF micrographs (FIG. 9a) and scattering spectra (FIG. 9b) obtained from 25 AuNCs exhibited a uniform scattering property. Consistent spectra were obtained for each of the 25 particles because of the narrow distribution and high yield of AuNCs, and the averaged representative spectra are shown in FIG. 9c. In addition, the maximum peak positions obtained from the scattering spectrum measured for a series of AuNCs, in which the size (i.e., edge length) and/or shape were different, and scattering intensities at the peak positions are shown in FIGS. 9d and 9e, respectively. As shown in FIGS. 9d and 9e, the positions and intensities of the maximum scattering wavelength varied according to the size and/or edge shape of the AuNCs. These results indicate that in similar-sized AuNCs, as the corner sharpness became higher, the scattering signal increased, and the average peak position was shifted to a long wavelength. This may be mainly attributed to the retardation effect due to large size. In particular, a slightly reduced scattering intensity was observed in 72S despite its higher corner sharpness compared to 78R, and this was thought to have occurred because the Rayleigh scattering generally increases in proportion to the square of the volume, and thus, the scattering-increasing effect was compounded in 78R, which has a large volume.

[0102] Meanwhile, the spectrum of each AuNC is shown in FIG. 9f along with its linewidth. As shown in FIG. 9f, it was confirmed that these AuNCs have a scattering spectrum of uniform linewidth regardless of their size or shape. Furthermore, 53S AuNCs having the same size and corner shape were synthesized in several batches, and the Rayleigh scattering spectra of the AuNCs obtained from each batch were measured, and a comprehensive spectral profile is three-dimensionally shown in FIG. 9g. As shown in FIG. 9g, the Rayleigh Raman spectra measured from the AuNCs produced in several different batches were all consistent, indicating that if the synthesis method of the present invention is used, uniform AuNCs can be produced regardless of the batch.

[0103] Finally, in the present invention, structural effects were studied on near-field enhancement by surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) with 78R and 72S. Specifically, a self-assembled monolayer of BDT was formed on the surface of AuNCs, and these were then assembled into an AuNC dimer. The shape of the formed AuNC dimer is schematically shown in FIG. 10a. FIG. 10c shows TEM images of dimers of 78R and 72S, respectively. Each of the 22 individual dimers was analyzed and confirmed to have an average gap size of 1.1 nm (within 10% deviation). It was confirmed from the polar plot of the Raman signal prepared while changing the polarization angle of the laser of irradiation that the maximum Raman signal enhancement was large in the long-axis resonance mode of the dimer and/or in 78R. In the present invention, the Raman enhancement factor of the dimer prepared using BDT was calculated to be 8.0×10.sup.7 in 78R and 1.6×10.sup.7 in 72S (FIGS. 10f and 10g). This tendency is also consistent with the simulation results shown in FIG. 10b. This indicates that the control of corner sharpness is a factor capable of controlling optical properties of dimers as well as in single particles. In contrast, the 72S dimer showed a narrower distribution of spectrum compared to the 78R dimer, and this is thought to be because the 72S dimer has a smaller corner radius deviation than the 78R, thus resulting in higher homogeneity, and this was supported by the fact that the standard deviation of the measured corner radius of 78R was 1.9 times larger than that of 72S. This pattern also appeared in AuNCs with a different size.

[0104] In conclusion, the present invention proposes a method for producing metal nanocubes in high yield while precisely controlling their size and corner sharpness. The present invention provides a straightforward method of size control by tuning the ratio between the amount of a seed and a precursor, as well as corner sharpness control by varying the amount of bromide ions being added. From stoichiometric information, once the size of a metal nanocube is selected, the bromide concentration required for round-cornered metal nanocubes or sharp-cornered metal nanocubes can easily be determined. The centrifuge-driven aggregation of the synthesized metal nanocubes is simple and feasible for shape-selective nanoparticle refinement, and can be extended to any type of nanoparticle mixture without intricate preparation.

[0105] The precise shape control of metal nanocubes enables effective fine-tuning of far-field and near-field responses, thereby allowing conversion of structural distinctions to the modulation of optical properties. Therefore, based thereon, it is expected that practical and scalable synthesis of metal nanocubes with the potential for use as a basic nanostructure for synthesis or for self-assembly as 2D or 3D materials may be realized and a method capable of a large-scale synthesis thereof may be developed. Furthermore, applications with highly enhanced plasmonic properties, which are achieved through the precisely controlled design of novel nanostructures, may be expected.