Tuning the Morphology and Chiroptical Properties of Discrete Gold Nanorods with Amino Acids
Author(s) -
Zheng Guangchao,
Bao Zhiyong,
PérezJuste Jorge,
Du Ruolan,
Liu Wei,
Dai Jiyan,
Zhang Wei,
Lee Lawrence Yoon Suk,
Wong KwokYin
Publication year - 2018
Publication title -
angewandte chemie international edition
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 5.831
H-Index - 550
eISSN - 1521-3773
pISSN - 1433-7851
DOI - 10.1002/anie.201810693
Subject(s) - nanorod , circular dichroism , nanostructure , materials science , discrete dipole approximation , plasmon , signal (programming language) , coating , morphology (biology) , dipole , nanotechnology , crystallography , chemistry , optoelectronics , organic chemistry , biology , computer science , programming language , genetics
Abstract The synthesis of discrete nanostructures with a strong, persistent, stable plasmonic circular dichroism (PCD) signal is challenging. We report a seed‐mediated growth approach to obtain discrete Au nanorods with high and stable chiroptical responses (c‐Au NRs) in the visible to near‐IR region. The morphology of the c‐Au NRs was governed by the concentration of l ‐ or d ‐cysteine used. The amino acids encapsulated within the discrete gold nanostructure enhance their PCD signal, attributed to coupling of dipoles of chiral molecules with the near‐field induced optical activity at the hot spots inside the c‐Au NRs. The stability of the PCD signal and biocompatibility of c‐Au NRs was improved by coating with silica or protein corona. Discrete c‐Au NR@SiO 2 with Janus or core–shell configurations retained their PCD signal even in organic solvents. A side‐by‐side assembly of c‐Au NRs induced by l ‐glutathione led to further PCD signal enhancement, with anisotropic g factors as high as 0.048.