Harnessing the optical properties of gold nanorods: fluorescence enhancement, biosensing and photothermal therapy
type: CreativeWork
description: In recent years, there has been great interest in the synthesis, characterization, and application of gold nanomaterials, especially gold nanorods. Due to their small size, ease of functionalization, and uniquely tunable optical properties, gold nanorods have potential application in solar cells, sensing, bioimaging, drug delivery, and cancer therapy. Excitation of a gold nanorod localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR) can result in the enhancement of many photophysical processes such as light absorption, Rayleigh (Mie) scattering, and fluorescence. The presence of a strong electromagnetic field has been observed to enhance spectroscopic molecular signals from fluorophores, Raman-active molecules, and two-photon chromophores bound to or near the metal surface. Additionally, strong light absorption and nonradiative dissipation of absorbed energy allows for the use of gold nanorods in photothermal heating applications. Optical applications such as these may be realized by carefully engineering the size, shape, surface chemistry of gold nanorods. The focus of this dissertation is in exploring how gold nanorod surface properties can be modified for various optical applications. In each chapter, gold nanorods are prepared, the surface coating is modified, and the materials are characterized by a variety of methods. This thesis seeks to demonstrate how these materials may be useful, with a focus on three particular applications: fluorescence enhancement, biosensing and photothermal therapy. Chapter 1 is an introduction to gold nanorods and contains a thesis overview. The unique optical properties, which are the basis for most applications, are discussed. This is followed by a general overview of the possible optical applications of gold nanorods. The history of advancements in gold nanorod synthesis and techniques for surface modification are described. There is a particular focus on the surface modification techniques most often used in this thesis, including thiol fu…
abstract: In recent years, there has been great interest in the synthesis, characterization, and application of gold nanomaterials, especially gold nanorods. Due to their small size, ease of functionalization, and uniquely tunable optical properties, gold nanorods have potential application in solar cells, sensing, bioimaging, drug delivery, and cancer therapy. Excitation of a gold nanorod localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR) can result in the enhancement of many photophysical processes such as light absorption, Rayleigh (Mie) scattering, and fluorescence. The presence of a strong electromagnetic field has been observed to enhance spectroscopic molecular signals from fluorophores, Raman-active molecules, and two-photon chromophores bound to or near the metal surface. Additionally, strong light absorption and nonradiative dissipation of absorbed energy allows for the use of gold nanorods in photothermal heating applications. Optical applications such as these may be realized by carefully engineering the size, shape, surface chemistry of gold nanorods. The focus of this dissertation is in exploring how gold nanorod surface properties can be modified for various optical applications. In each chapter, gold nanorods are prepared, the surface coating is modified, and the materials are characterized by a variety of methods. This thesis seeks to demonstrate how these materials may be useful, with a focus on three particular applications: fluorescence enhancement, biosensing and photothermal therapy. Chapter 1 is an introduction to gold nanorods and contains a thesis overview. The unique optical properties, which are the basis for most applications, are discussed. This is followed by a general overview of the possible optical applications of gold nanorods. The history of advancements in gold nanorod synthesis and techniques for surface modification are described. There is a particular focus on the surface modification techniques most often used in this thesis, including thiol fu…
author: Abadeer, Nardine S.
language: en
keywords: Gold nanorods, Applications, Silica, Fluorescence, Biosensing, Photothermal
date published: 2016-11-10T18:27:18Z
date modified: 2026-07-22T22:26:35Z
provider: University of Illinois - Urbana-Champaign
publisher: Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations
type: WebPage
source organization: University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

PropertyValue
property ID: Handle
value: http://hdl.handle.net/2142/92888