Photochemical Synthesis of Water-Soluble Gold Nanorods: The Role of Silver Ions in Assisting Anisotropic Growth

The role of Ag+ ions in the ultraviolet-driven photochemical synthesis of Au nanorods (NRs) in aqueous surfactant mixtures has been investigated in order to elucidate the mechanism that drives anisotropic nanoparticle growth. The samples, grown in the presence of varying amounts of Ag+ ions for scheduled irradiation times, have been characterized by ultraviolet−visible−near infrared (UV−vis−NIR) absorption spectroscopy, analytical transmission electron microscopy (ATEM), inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectroscopy (ICP-AES), and extended X-ray absorption fine structure (EXAFS) measurements. Moreover, the time evolution of size and shape distribution has been investigated by stat…