Organic Solvent Synthesis of the Gold Nanodumbbell Structure by Electrochemical Approach

The gold nanoparticles with dumbbells-like structures have been successfully fabricated by an electrochemical method using micelle-template formed by two surfactants, the primary surfactant being cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTABr) and the co-surfactant being tetradecyltrimethylammonium bromide (TTABr). The shape of gold nanoparticles can be modified to form dumbbell structure by addition of acetone solvent during the electrolysis. The gold nanodumbbells have been determined to be singlecrystalline with a face-centered cubic (FCC) structure by X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis. Transmission electronic microscopy (TEM) suggests that shape of gold nanodumbbell has fatter in two ends and thinner in middle section to compare the normal nanorod shape. These gold nanodumbbells exhibit aspect ratio of around 3.