Published online by Cambridge University Press: 29 April 2019
Uniform silver chlorobromide nanocubes have been used to regulate the availability of an extremely low concentration of Ag+ that react with different thiol molecules to form silver thiolate nanoplates with high controllability. The sacrificial silver chlorobromide nanocubes also serve as templates to provide surface nucleation sites for forming the silver thiolate nanoplates, which grow against the surfaces of the nanocubes to organize into nanocages upon the consumption of the entire nanocubes. The precise regulation of the extremely low concentration of Ag+ prevents the uncontrolled fast reaction with thiol molecules and the formation of irregular silver thiolate particles. This method represents a versatile strategy to control the reaction rate of fast reactions involving in the synthesis of colloidal nanoparticles, thus enabling the synthesis of uniform nanoparticles with desirable parameters.