“…G blocks with zigzag confi guration are usually considered responsible for encapsulation and complexation of anions such as Au 3+ , Ag + , Ce 3+ , Cd 2+ , Cr 3+ , Fe 2+ , Ca 2+ , Zn 2+ , Co 2+ , Ni 2+ , Hg 2+ , etc. [ 1,[7][8][9][10][11][12] Alginate is rich in carboxyl and hydroxyl groups, which are considered to be active centers for reduction. Nevertheless, to the best of our knowledge, sodium alginate has been used for in situ preparation of Au NPs starting from gold precursors but always in the presence of another reducing agent, and the synthesis was carried out via either chemical-, photo-, or plasma sputtering reductionprocess.…”