Enhancing effects of gold nanorods on luminescence of dyes

In this work the effects of gold nanorods (GNRs) on luminescence of two dyes were studied. Pyronin B and Direct Yellow 96 are used as the source of luminescence and the dimensions of the GNRs were varied. The luminescence intensities of aqueous solutions containing only luminescent dye and solutions containing luminescent dye and GNRs were measured. The measured emission spectra were normalized by normalizing the luminescence intensities to the dye concentration and GNR concentration. The luminescence enhancement was examined as a function of GNR׳s diameter, surface area and volume. Our results indicate that when plasmonic GNRs become larger the luminescence enhancement increases for both PyrB and DY96 dyes.