Three-dimensional morphology and crystallography of gold nanorods.

Katz-Boon, Hadas; Rossouw, Chris J; Weyland, Matthew; Funston, Alison M; Mulvaney, Paul; Etheridge, Joanne · Nano Lett · 2011

basic_science · Level V

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Abstract

We determine the three-dimensional shape, to within 1 nm resolution, of single-crystal gold nanorods grown in the presence of silver ions using electron tomography and thickness profile measurements. We find that, contrary to the current literature, the octagonal side-facets are sparsely packed atomic planes all belonging to the same symmetry-equivalent family, {0 5 12}. Furthermore, the rod ends terminate in a pyramid with slightly different facets, and each pyramid is connected to the sides by four small {0 5 12} "bridging" facets.