Effect of additive acid on seeded growth of gold nanobipyramids

Abstract The presence of sharp tips and edges of gold nanobipyramids (GNBPs) lead to strong local electromagnetic field enhancement. Herein for the first time we present a study on efficacy of additive acid on the formation of GNBPs. The effect of additive acid type and its concentration in growth solution were investigated to obtain various yield and aspect ratio of GNBPs. Morphological characterization shows the nanoseeds that were grown in growth solution prepared using HCl, H2SO4, and HF at concentration from 0 to 1 mL produced GNBPs with yield ranges from 5.21 ± 0.44 to 91.46 ± 3.32% and aspect ratio from 2.00 ± 0.02 to 2.76 ± 0.05. The optical response of GNBPs exhibit dual plasmon band at wavelength around 550 nm–570 nm, corresponding to transverse surface plasmon resonance (t-SPR) and at wavelength around 700 nm–800 nm, corresponding to longitudinal surface plasmon resonance (l-SPR). The presented approach may be used to produce tunable morphological GNBPs nanostructures which potentially used in sensors, SERS, catalysis, and photonics.