We show the anisotropic selective growth of gold tips onto semiconductor (cadmium selenide) nanorods and tetrapods by a simple reaction. The size of the gold tips can be controlled by the concentration of the starting materials. The new nanostructures display modified optical properties caused by the strong coupling between the gold and semiconductor parts. The gold tips show increased conductivity as well as selective chemical affinity for forming self-assembled chains of rods. Such gold-tipped nanostructures provide natural contact points for self-assembly and for electrical devices and can solve the difficult problem of contacting colloidal nanorods and tetrapods to the external world.

We explore the growth mechanism of gold nanocrystals onto preformed cadmium sulfide nanorods to form hybrid metal nanocrystal/semiconductor nanorod colloids. By manipulating the growth conditions, it is possible to obtain nanostructures exhibiting Au nanocrystal growth at only one nanorod tip, at both tips, or at multiple locations along the nanorod surface. Under anaerobic conditions, Au growth occurs only at one tip of the nanorods, producing asymmetric structures. In contrast, the presence of oxygen and trace amounts of water during the reaction promotes etching of the nanorod surface, providing additional sites for metal deposition. Three growth stages are observed when Au growth is performed under air: (1) Au nanocrystal formation at both nanorod tips, (2) growth onto defect sites on the nanorod surface, and finally (3) a ripening process in which one nanocrystal tip grows at the expense of the other particles present on the nanorod. Analysis of the hybrid nanostructures by high-resolution TEM shows that there is no preferred orientation between the Au nanocrystal and the CdS nanorod, indicating that growth is nonepitaxial. The optical signatures of the nanocrystals and the nanorods (i.e., the surface plasmon and first exciton transition peaks, respectively) are spectrally distinct, allowing the different stages of the growth process to be easily monitored. The initial CdS nanorods exhibit band gap and trap state emission, both of which are quenched during Au growth.

Gold growth on CdS nanorods and on seeded CdSe/CdS nanorods with and without illumination at different temperatures was studied. Two competing mechanisms were identified: thermal and light-induced growth. The thermal mechanism leads to growth of small gold particles at defects along the rod body and can be suppressed at lower temperatures. This control is attributed to a phase transition of the alkyl chains of the surface amine ligands to a static phase at lower temperatures, blocking the Au precursor's access to the nanorod surfaces. While a long-chain (C18) amine shows effective blocking at 293 K, a shorter chain (C12) amine shows the same result only at 273 K; however, in the case of a bulky trialkylamine, defect growth was observed even at 273 K. Light-induced growth leads to selective deposition of gold on one end of the rods. The tip was shown to grow on sulfur-rich facets of the nanorod, producing end-on and angled tip orientations. Growth under illumination with decreased temperature provides a highly selective synthesis of hybrid semiconductor nanorods with a single gold tip. Such anisotropic semiconductor-metal hybrids are of interest for self-assembly and photocatalysis and as building blocks in optoelectronic devices.

The H(2)O(2)-mediated enlargement of Au nanoparticles (NPs) and the growth mechanism are described. In addition to the deposition of gold on the NP faces, the formation of nanocrystalline clusters at the intersection of the faces is observed. The detachment of the latter nanoclusters provides additional seeds for the deposition of gold. The biocatalyzed generation of H(2)O(2) in the presence of O(2)/glucose and glucose oxidase enabled the development of an optical biosensor for glucose.

A complex InAs/CdSe/ZnSe core/shell1/shell2 (CSS) structure is synthesized, where the intermediate CdSe buffer layer decreases strain between the InAs core and the ZnSe outer shell. This structure leads to significantly improved fluorescence quantum yield as compared to previously prepared core/shell structures and enables growth of much thicker shells. The shell growth is done using a layer-by-layer method in which the shell cation and anion precursors are added sequentially allowing for excellent control, and a good size distribution is maintained throughout the entire growth process. The CSS structure is characterized using transmission electron microscopy, as well as by X-ray diffraction and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy which provide evidence for shell growth. The quantum yield for CSS with small InAs cores reaches over 70%-exceptional photoluminescence intensity for III-V semiconductor nanocrystals. In larger InAs cores there is a systematic decrease in the quantum yield, with a yield of approximately 40% for intermediate size cores down to a few percent in large cores. The CSS structures also exhibit very good photostability, vastly improved over those of organically coated cores, and transformation into water environment via ligand exchange is performed without significant decrease of the quantum yield. These new InAs/CdSe/ZnSe CSS nanocrystals are therefore promising near-IR chromophores for biological fluorescence tagging and optoelectronic devices.