Pyrrole self-assembled monolayer and orderly autopolymerization on chloride- and gold-containing nanocomplexes prepared by electrochemical methods

We report here the first electrochemical pathway to prepare Cl- and Au-containing nanocomplexes of mean diameter 2 nm in 0.1 M HCl aqueous solutions without the addition of any stabilizer. Based on these prepared nanocomplexes, pyrrole monomers can form self-assembled monolayers and further develop orderly spontaneous polymerization (called autopolymerization), which is distinguishable from conventional chemical or electrochemical polymerization, on these nanocomplexes. Furthermore, the prepared polypyrrole (PPy)-coated gold nanoparticles with a core-shell structure can be further treated with sonication for the preparation of Au(0) nanoparticles. This strategy provides another way to fabricate metal nanoparticles without the addition of any stabilizer.