Synthesis of Complex Gold Nanostructures via Seeded Growth

Gold nanostructures have a wide variety of applications in sensors, catalysis, biological, and medical applications due to their optical properties, high surface area-volume ratios, and high electrical conductivity. Specifically, complex gold nanostructures will have unique optical properties that will yield valuable sensors. Spherical, rod-like, and star shaped gold nanostructures have been previously synthesized by reducing a gold salt in the presence of a variety of stabilizing agents. These methods utilize a seeded growth method. From a spherical seeds, rod-like particles have been created which will then be utilized as the seeds for further growth. Selective adsorption and leveraging crystal structure should allow for the ends of the nanorods to be grown and bifurcated, leading to spiked growth on both ends of the nanorods. Therefore, it is theorized that spiky dumbbell shaped nanostructures can be formed, yielding a novel optical response. The following research lays the groundwork by creating each intermediate step in this theorized synthesis process, leaving the combination of each step to be further investigated