Construction of evolutionary tree for morphological engineering of nanoparticles.

In addition to chemical composition, the chemistry of nanocrystals involves an extra structural factor--morphology--since many of their properties are size- and shape-dependent. Although often described as artificial atoms or molecules, the morphological control of nanoparticles has not advanced to a level comparable to organic total synthesis, where complex molecular structures can be rationally designed and prepared through stepwise reactions. Here we report a morphological engineering approach for gold nanoparticles by constructing an evolutionary tree consisting of a few branches of independent growth pathways. Each branch yields a string of evolving, continuously tunable morphologies from one reaction, therefore collectively producing a library of nanoparticles with minimal changes of reaction parameters. In addition, the tree also provides ground rules for designing new morphologies through crossing over different pathways.