Size Control of Gold Nanoparticles Synthesized by Laser Ablation in Liquid Media

We investigate the influence of salt, acidic, and basic solutions (citrate, NaOH, and HCl) on the size of gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) synthesized by laser ablation in aqueous media. We found that NP size increases from 3 nm to 13 nm when Zeta potential varies from −100 mV to −10 mV whatever the concentration and the nature of chemical solution are namely, citrate, NaOH, and HCl. These results demonstrated that the final size of gold NPs produced by laser ablation in liquid media is mainly governed by the charge-dependent growth mechanism.