A plasmonic fluid with dynamically tunable optical properties

We report the first synthesis of a gold nanorod (GNR)-based nanocomposite that exhibits solid-like plasmonic properties while behaving in a liquid-like manner. Tuning the degree of GNR clustering controls the material's responsiveness to external stimuli, such as mechanical shearing, due to the sensitivity of the localized surface plasmon resonance to interparticle interactions.