Hydroquinone Based Synthesis of Gold Nanorods

The overall goal of this procedure is to efficiently prepare gold nanorods with an aspect ratio between two and three. This method can help prepare gold nanorod in a reproducible and convenient way compared to other synthetic protocol in the scientific literature. The main advantages in the use of hydroquinone as the reducing agent are the dramatic increase in the gold ion reduction rate, and the lower use of cetyltrimethylammonium bromide, with substantially lower cost.

This protocol consists of two steps. First is most spherical gold seeds are prepared using sodium borohydride. Secondly, gold nanorods are prepared from a seed using a seed-grow solution.