Synthesis of gold nanoparticles coated onto polyurethane microspheres

Gold nanoparticles have been synthesized and stabilized onto the surface of well-defined polyurethane microspheres (Au@PUR) through the utilization of thiophene-functionalized polyurethane latexes. The final gold/polyurethane hybrid material was characterized by means of UV-visible spectroscopy, transmission electronic microscopy (TEM) and XPS. In addition, the product was found to be stable and easily re-dispersible in water. From this study, the influences of the functionality of the polyurethane microspheres and of brightness conditions on the nucleation sites' number, the size and the stabilization of metal nanoclusters were demonstrated.