Synthesis of Anisotropic Gold Microparticles via L-Glutathione-Mediated Pathways in Droplet Microfluidics

Microfluidic-assisted synthesis of nanoparticles has generated significant interest for its precise control and high throughput capabilities. Among various nanomaterials, gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) have shown remarkable potential in numerous applications, such as disease detection, photothermotherapy, drug delivery, and even defense applications. Recent synthesis strategy of peptide-mediated method has sparked greater interest by offering unique chiroptical properties and their applications in biomedical applications. In this study, the use of droplet microfluidics is explored for the synthesis of peptide-mediated AuNPs, aiming to accelerate automated production via flow chemistry. This method leads to the formation of anisotropic gold particles, with sizes ranging from hundreds of nanometers to the micron scale. The interfacial energy is identified at the water/oil interface as a critical factor influencing this outcome, with L-glutathione (L-GSH) playing a significant role in the development of hyper-branched structures. These results demonstrate the capability of droplet microfluidics in producing anisotropic gold particles at micron scales, presenting new possibilities for the advancement of nanoparticle synthesis techniques.