One-step facile synthesis of noble metal nanocrystals with tunable morphology in a nematic liquid crystalline medium

The present study describes in-situ synthesis of noble metal nano structures (MNCs) (Au and Ag) within a nematic liquid crystalline medium MBBA [N-(4-methoxybenzylidene)-4-butylaniline] without using any seed mediated growth protocol or without using any external stabilizing or reducing agent. Detailed Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM) study indicates that apart from Kinetic based mechanism, the thermodynamical parameters also influence greatly the morphological evolution of these MNCs. The MNCs are of diverse shapes including nano prisms, hexagons, urchins, cubes, and rods which depend on the time of reaction and the choice of nanoparticle precursor.