James Heath and coworkers Phys Rev Lett 1995 75 3466 have ob

James Heath and coworkers (Phys. Rev. Lett. 1995, 75, 3466) have observed Ostwald ripening in thin films of gold nanoparticles at room temperature. Starting with an uneven distribution of particle sizes, they find that the large particles grow at the expense of smaller ones (see

Solution

study aimed at understanding the factors that control the optical properties of DNA-linked gold nanoparticle aggregates containing oligonucleotide linkers of varying length (24?72 base pairs) is described. In this system, 15 nm diameter Au particles modified with (alkanethiol)-12 base oligomers are hybridized to a series of oligonucleotide linkers ranging from 24 to 72 base pairs (80?240