Preparation of polystyrene- and silica-coated gold nanorods and their use as templates for the synthesis of hollow nanotubes

We report the preparation of polystyrene and silica-coated Au nanorods (aspect ratio 13 with 16 nm short axis). The coating resulted in a modification of the optical properties of the Au nanorods. Dissolution of the Au core from the polystyrene- and silica-coated Au nanorods using ON enabled the formation of hollow polystyrene and silica nanotubes.