Synthesis of Solution-Stable End-to-End Linked Gold Nanorod Dimers via pH-Dependent Surface Reconfiguration

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Abstract
End-to-end dimers of gold nanorods are predicted to be excellent substrates for surface-enhanced spectroscopy. However, synthesis of solution-stable end-to-end dimers remains challenging. Here we exploit the pH-dependent configurational change of polyelectrolytes to initiate and terminate the gold nanorod assembly formation to produce end-to-end linked dimers at high yield. The gold nanorods are first overcoated with a polyelectrolyte and the end-to-end attachment is initiated by adding a thiol linker in acidic medium. The assembly formation is then terminated at the dimer stage by changing the pH of the medium by the addition of appropriate amount of 1,4-diazabicyclo[2.2.2]octane (DABCO).The nanorod dimers synthesized here are stable in solution for a week without any additional surface encapsulation.
Funding Information
  • Anusandhan National Research Foundation (EMR/2015/ 0013, PDF/2018/001248)
  • Indian Institute of Technology Gandhinagar

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