Ionic liquid-assisted synthesis of silver nanorods by polyol reduction

Silver nanorods have been successfully synthesized in large scale by the ethylene glycol（EG） reduction in the presence of ionic liquid（IL） 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium tetrafluoroborate（bmimBF_4） and polyvinyl-pyrrolidone（PVP）.The silver nanorods were characterized by scanning electron microscopy（SEM）,high-resolution transmission electron microscopy（HRTEM）,transmission electron microscopy（TEM）,electron energy disperse spectroscopy（EDS） and UV-vis spectroscopy.The results showed that the uniform silver nanorods have an average diameter of about 100 nm and the aspect ratio from 15 to 20.IL,bmimBF_4 may play a role of capping agent together with PVP in the formation of silver nanorods.On the other band,bmimBF_4 may accelerate nucleation and improve the stability of the resulting Ag nanorods due to the low interface tension of IL.

Highly Sensitive Silver Nanorod Arrays for Rapid Surface Enhanced Raman Scattering Detection of Acetamiprid Pesticides

The determination of pesticide residue on agricultural products is increasingly important. Exposure to pesticides can cause severe acute reactions in humans, including aplastic anemia and leukemia. In this work, we developed a rapid and sensitive method to detect acetamiprid pesticide residue based on surface-enhanced Raman scattering. Silver nanorod （AgNR） arrays were fabricated by oblique angle deposition technology and were used as SERS substrates. Prior to detection, the AgNR arrays were cleaned with nitric acid solution or a mixture of methanol and acetone. Compared to the unwashed AgNR arrays, the AgNR arrays washed with methanol and acetone shows a signal enhancement 1000 times greater than the unwashed AgNR array due to the effective removal of the impurities on its surface. The limit of detection of acetamiprid was determined to be 0.05 mg/L. In addition, the molecular structure of acetamiprid was simulated and the corresponding vibration modes of the characteristic bands of acetamiprid were calculated by density function theory. To demonstrate its practical application, the AgNRs array substrates were applied successfully to the rapid identification of acetamiprid residue on a cucumber＇s surface. These results confirmed possibility of utilizing the AgNRs SERS substrates as a new method for highly sensitive pesticide residue detection.

Power-Dependent Luminescence of CdSe/ZnS Nanocrystal Assembled Layer-by-Layer on a Silver Nanorod Array

We investigate the power-dependent luminescence of CdSe/ZnS semiconductor quantum dots closely packed layer- by-layer in the proximity of a silver nanorod array cavity. It is found that the emission peak shifts significantly to the longer wavelengths as the excitation power increases, especially when the longitudinal surface plasmon resonance of the Ag nanorod array cavity is adjusted to be close to the emission wavelength. The equivalent gain varies with the coating layer of CdSe/ZnS semiconductor quantum dots and the excitation power is also studied to explain this interesting spectrum-shifting effect. These findings could find applications in the dynamic information processing of active plasmonic and photonic nanodevices.

Synthesis of high-purity silver nanorods with tunable plasmonic properties and sensor behavior

Through anisotropic Ag overgrowth on the surface of Au nanobipyramids(Au NBPs), high-purity and sizecontrolled Ag nanorods(Au/Ag NRs) are obtained by a simplified purification process. The diameters of the Au/Ag NRs are determined by the size of the as-prepared Au NBPs, and the lengths of the Au/Ag NRs are tunable using different amounts of Ag precursor in the growth solution. Surface-enhanced Raman scattering(SERS) studies using Rhodamine-6G(R6G) as a test molecule indicate that the Au/Ag NRs have excellent sensing potential. The tunable optical properties and strong electromagnetic effect of the Au/Ag NRs, along with their superior SERS signal enhancement, show that Au/Ag NRs are promising for further applications in plasmon sensing and biomolecular detection.