In the recent years, anisotropic metallic nanoparticles have drawn much attention because of their unique optical properties. Particularly,... Show moreIn the recent years, anisotropic metallic nanoparticles have drawn much attention because of their unique optical properties. Particularly, gold and silver nanorods show great potential in extensive applications such as health care, food storage, drug delivery, biosensor, and cancer treatment. Among a variety of nanorods synthesis methods, the seed-mediated growth approach stands out due to its mild and convenient experimental conditions. However, there exist two defects of this method, the poor reproducibility and low yield of nanorods. In order to create nanoparticle systems of reproducible quality in high yields, a deeper understanding of the mechanism of nanorods formation as well as identifying the more important variables is necessary. In this study, the original seed-mediated growth method has been modified to promote the reproducibility and yield of nanorods. Effects of CTAB concentration and ages of growth solution have been investigated in the nanorods formation process. The results suggest that a high concentration of CTAB is not necessary for the growth process and the age of growth solution can affect the optical performance of nanorods. In a brief survey on the stability property of nanorods, it shows that the degradation rate decreases with increasing concentrations of CTAB. M.S. in Chemical Engineering, May 2016 Show less
