Skip to Content
Merck
  • Gold nanorods: from synthesis and properties to biological and biomedical applications.

Gold nanorods: from synthesis and properties to biological and biomedical applications.

Advanced materials (Deerfield Beach, Fla.) (2009-12-28)
Xiaohua Huang, Svetlana Neretina, Mostafa A El-Sayed
ABSTRACT

Noble metal nanoparticles are capable of confining resonant photons in such a manner as to induce coherent surface plasmon oscillation of their conduction band electrons, a phenomenon leading to two important properties. Firstly, the confinement of the photon to the nanoparticle's dimensions leads to a large increase in its electromagnetic field and consequently great enhancement of all the nanoparticle's radiative properties, such as absorption and scattering. Moreover, by confining the photon's wavelength to the nanoparticle's small dimensions, there exists enhanced imaging resolving powers, which extend well below the diffraction limit, a property of considerable importance in potential device applications. Secondly, the strongly absorbed light by the nanoparticles is followed by a rapid dephasing of the coherent electron motion in tandem with an equally rapid energy transfer to the lattice, a process integral to the technologically relevant photothermal properties of plasmonic nanoparticles. Of all the possible nanoparticle shapes, gold nanorods are especially intriguing as they offer strong plasmonic fields while exhibiting excellent tunability and biocompatibility. We begin this review of gold nanorods by summarizing their radiative and nonradiative properties. Their various synthetic methods are then outlined with an emphasis on the seed-mediated chemical growth. In particular, we describe nanorod spontaneous self-assembly, chemically driven assembly, and polymer-based alignment. The final section details current studies aimed at applications in the biological and biomedical fields.

MATERIALS
Product Number
Brand
Product Description

Sigma-Aldrich
Gold nanorods, 25 nm diameter, FITC and protein A functionalized, powder
Sigma-Aldrich
Gold nanorods, 25 nm diameter, FITC and NHS functionalized, powder
Sigma-Aldrich
Gold nanorods, 10 nm diameter, Cy3 and protein A functionalized, powder
Sigma-Aldrich
Gold nanorods, 10 nm diameter, Cy3 and methyl functionalized, powder
Sigma-Aldrich
Gold nanorods, 10 nm diameter, Cy3 and NHS functionalized, powder
Sigma-Aldrich
Gold nanorods, 10 nm diameter, Cy3 and streptavidin functionalized, powder
Sigma-Aldrich
Gold nanorods, 10 nm diameter, Cy3 and azide functionalized, powder
Sigma-Aldrich
Gold nanorods, 10 nm diameter, Cy3 and amine functionalized, powder
Sigma-Aldrich
Gold nanorods, 10 nm diameter, Cy3 and maleimide functionalized, powder
Sigma-Aldrich
Gold nanorods, 25 nm diameter, FITC and azide functionalized, powder
Sigma-Aldrich
Gold nanorods, 25 nm diameter, FITC and streptavidin functionalized, powder
Sigma-Aldrich
Gold nanorods, 25 nm diameter, FITC and amine functionalized, powder
Sigma-Aldrich
Gold nanorods, 25 nm diameter, FITC and maleimide functionalized, powder
Sigma-Aldrich
Gold nanorods, 25 nm diameter, FITC and methyl functionalized, powder
Sigma-Aldrich
Gold nanorods, 25 nm diameter, FITC and biotin functionalized, powder
Sigma-Aldrich
Gold nanorods, 10 nm diameter, Cy3 and carboxyl functionalized, powder
Sigma-Aldrich
Gold nanorods, 25 nm diameter, FITC and carboxyl functionalized, powder
Sigma-Aldrich
Gold nanorods, 10nm diameter, Cy3 and biotin functionalized, powder
Sigma-Aldrich
Gold nanospheres, 15 nm, Cy3 and azide functionalized, powder
Sigma-Aldrich
Gold nanospheres, 100 nm, FITC and carboxyl functionalized, powder
Sigma-Aldrich
Gold nanospheres, 15 nm, Cy3 and protein A functionalized, powder
Sigma-Aldrich
Gold nanospheres, 100 nm, FITC and biotin functionalized, powder
Sigma-Aldrich
Gold nanospheres, 100 nm, FITC and streptavidin functionalized, powder
Sigma-Aldrich
Gold nanospheres, 100 nm, FITC and maleimide functionalized, powder
Sigma-Aldrich
Gold nanospheres, 100 nm, FITC and NHS functionalized, powder
Sigma-Aldrich
Gold nanospheres, 100 nm, FITC and methyl functionalized, powder
Sigma-Aldrich
Gold nanospheres, 15 nm, Cy3 and NHS functionalized, powder
Sigma-Aldrich
Gold nanospheres, 15 nm diameter, Cy3 and streptavidin functionalized, powder
Sigma-Aldrich
Gold nanospheres, 100 nm, FITC and azide functionalized, powder
Sigma-Aldrich
Gold nanospheres, 100 nm, FITC and amine functionalized, powder