Synthesis and characterization of gold nanorods

Abstract

Gold nanorods (GNRs) with a high dimensional ratio were obtained by seed mediated synthesis. In order to obtain the lowest ratio of shape impurities, 5 bromosalicylic acid was used as additive; a controlled dissolution of the additive resulted to be necessary for obtaining a low ratio of shape impurities. The effect of silver concentration in the growth solution was also investigated, showing its influence related to a change in the size ratio of the obtained GNRs. Furthermore, XRD analysis showed that silver precipitation occurs above a specific Ag concentration. The synthesis reproducibility was investigated for two different silver concentration. The mechanism of GNRs growth was investigated by absorption and TEM measurements.