Seeded growth synthesis of gold nanorods for photothermal application

Abstract

In this paper, the gold nanorods (GNRs) were synthesized via a seed-mediated method by using 1-3 nm seeds-in diameter and gold atoms created from the reduced Au3+ ions by ascorbic acid (AA) in the presence of cetyltrimethyl ammonnium bromide (CTAB) as a soft template. The aspect ratio of GNRs as well as growth yield were controlled by adjusting the concentration of Ag+ ions. This method gave the formation of mono-dispersed GNRs with the controlled size and peak plasmon resonance. The UV-VIS-NIR absorption spectra and transmission electronic microscopy (TEM) images of the GNR solution showed that the plasmon absorption spectra depend on the aspect ratio of GNRs. The GNRs were also attached with bioconjugate molecules in order to be more stable and used in biomedical applications. This work also presents the results of photothermal effects of GNRs in real tissues by changing the power density of laser beam.