Host–guest interaction and nano-microstructure of spherical poly(amidoamine) dendrimer/gold hybrid colloids under γ-ray irradiation

This investigation shows that in absence of the chemical reductant and the other protective reagents, the host–guest interaction and the molar ratio of dendrimers/Au 3+ other than size and shape of the templates play an important role for the preparation of stable gold hybrid colloids by 60Co γ-ray irradiation using spherical PAMAM-G5 as nonlinear polymeric template. The hybrid colloid resultants comprised of the ordered nano-crystal and the random non-crystal part, which has been confirmed by HRTEM, display spherical structure and the polydispersity of the size distribution in the range of nanometer scale. The dendrimer/gold hybrid colloids are formed by the intramolecular and intermolecular adsorption action between PAMAM-G5 template and gold nanoparticles, respectively. ► The host–guest interactions in the novel PAMAM-G5/Au hybrid colloids were revealed. ► The interactions and microstructure is affected by molar ratio of dendrimers/Au 3+. ► A controllable approach to the morphology was provided.