Laser
ablation of gold in liquids with nanosecond laser pulses
in aqueous solutions of inorganic electrolytes and macromolecular
ligands for gold nanoparticle size quenching is probed inside the
laser-induced cavitation bubble by in situ X-ray
multicontrast imaging with a Hartmann mask (XHI). It is found that
(i) the in situ size quenching power of sodium chloride
(NaCl) in comparison to the ablation in pure water can be observed
by the scattering contrast from XHI already inside the cavitation
bubble, while (ii) for polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP) as a macromolecular
model ligand an in situ size quenching cannot be
observed. Complementary ex situ characterization
confirms the overall size quenching ability of both additive types
NaCl and PVP. The macromolecular ligand as well as its monomer N-vinylpyrrolidone
(NVP) are mainly effective for growth quenching of larger nanoparticles
on later time scales, leading to the conclusion of an alternative
interaction mechanism with ablated nanoparticles compared to the electrolyte
NaCl, probably outside of the cavitation bubble, in the surrounding
liquid phase. While monomer and polymer have similar effects on the
particle properties, with the polymer being slightly more efficient,
only the polymer is effective against hydrodynamic aggregation
