Aspect ratio control of Au nanorods via covariation of the total amount of HAuCl4 and ascorbic acid

• The AR value decreased as the total amount of [HAuCl4] and [AA] increasing.
• The UV–vis absorption spectra showed the peak wavelength of TSPR at around 530 nm.
• The wavelength of LSPR had a red-shifted effect.

Controlling the aspect ratio (AR) of gold nanorods (GNRs) via covariation of the total concentrations of HAuCl4 ([HAuCl4]) and ascorbic acid ([AA]) has been studied. Characteristics of GNRs were examined by transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and ultraviolet–visible (UV–vis) absorption spectrophotometry. TEM results showed that single crystalline GNRs grew along an elongated growth direction of [100]. TEM results also revealed that the quantity of plate shaped and nearly spherical nanoparticles increased as the total amount of [HAuCl4] and [AA] decreased. The AR value measured from TEM images decreased from 4.74 to 2.41 as the total amount of [HAuCl4] and [AA] was increased from 0.305 to 2.44 mM. The UV–vis absorption spectra of all samples showed that the wavelength of transverse surface plasmon resonance (TSPR) peak appeared at around 530 nm for all samples. The wavelength of longitudinal surface plasmon resonance (LSPR) peak increased from 640 to 894 nm as the total amount of [HAuCl4] and [AA] decreased from 2.44 to 0.305 mM. The wavelength of LSPR peak shows a red-shifted effect except when the total amount of [HAuCl4] and [AA] was 0.122 mM.