Bipyramid-templated synthesis of monodisperse anisotropic gold nanocrystals

Much of the interest in noble metal nanoparticles is due to their plasmonic resonance responses and local field enhancement, both of which can be tuned through the size and shape of the particles. However, both properties suffer from the loss of monodispersity that is frequently associated with various morphologies of nanoparticles. Here we show a method to generate diverse and monodisperse anisotropic gold nanoparticle shapes with various tip geometries as well as highly tunable size augmentations through either oxidative etching or seed-mediated growth of purified, monodisperse gold bipyramids. The conditions employed in the etching and growth processes also offer valuable insights into the growth mechanism difficult to realize with other gold nanostructures. The high-index facets and more complicated structure of the bipyramid lead to a wider variety of intriguing regrowth structures than in previously studied nanoparticles. Our results introduce a class of gold bipyramid-based nanoparticles with interesting and potentially useful features to the toolbox of gold nanoparticles. Tuning the morphology of nanoparticles can alter their optical properties but often at the cost of monodispersity. Here, the authors report the synthesis of monodisperse anisotropic gold nanoparticles with various tip geometries as well as highly tunable size augmentations from purified gold bipyramids.