Growing Gold Nanostars on SiO2 Nanoparticles: Easily Accessible, NIR Active Core–Shell Nanostructures from PVP/DMF Reduction

Abstract

A new synthesis strategy towards gold-coated silica nanoparticles is presented. The method provides an efficient, reliable and facile-coating process of well-defined star-shaped shell structures, characterized by UV-Vis, TEM, PXRD, DLS and zeta-potential measurements. A marked red shift of the Au-based plasmonic band to the region of the first biological window is observed offering great potential for future research of biological applications.