Effects of chloride and silver ions on gold nanorod formation

Abstract

The ability to tune the longitudinal localized surface plasmon resonance of gold nanorods (AuNRs) via simple modification of their aspect ratio is a large contributing factor to their widespread use across multiple fields. An understanding of the synthesis conditions that affect the aspect ratio and yield of AuNRs is therefore of utmost importance. From this perspective, we take a systematic approach in investigating the effect of the following conditions on the seed-mediated formation of AuNRs: the addition of chloride or silver ions, and the use of a hexadecyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB) source with different levels of effectiveness on controlling the shape of growing AuNRs. (C) 2015 The Japan Society of Applied Physics