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Gold nanorods (AuNRs) were obtained via a wet chemistry technique, in aqueous medium, employing crystallisation seeds. The kinetics of formation, the aspect ratio, and the selectivity of the particles were evaluated according to the parameters of synthesis: the growth-driving agent, seed, and gold precursor concentrations. In 2-4 h, the rod particles attained the expected size and shape under kinetic control, and were stable for at least 2 days. In order to obtain good quality AuNRs in good yields, without enrichment, we suggest keeping the growth-driving agent/gold molar ratio, the Au I /seed ratio, and the concentration of the reagents in the final solution within specific ranges. For example, even if good molar ratios between the reagents are maintained, relatively highly concentrated reaction solutions lead to AuNRs with lower aspect ratios. The main properties of the prepared colloidal systems and the nanoparticles were evaluated by UVvis spectroscopy and transmission electron microscopy, respectively.

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We report on the observation of a large thermal nonlinearity of an organic material enhanced by the presence of gold nanoparticles. The studied system consisted of a colloid of castor oil and gold particles with average diameter of 10 nm, with filling factor of 4.0x10 -5 . Z-scan measurements were performed for an excitation wavelength tuned at 810 nm in the CW regime. It was observed that this colloidal system presents a large thermal nonlinear refractive index, which was equal to -7.4x10 -8 cm 2 /W. This value is about 41 times larger than the n 2 of the host material. The thermo-optic coefficient of the colloid was also evaluated, and a large enhancement was observed in its value owing to the presence of the gold nanoparticles in the organic material.