Synthesis and optical properties of triangular gold nanoplates with controllable edge length

Gold triangular nanoplates with a uniform size were synthesized by a simple seeds-growth method in a lamellar lyotropic liquid crystal (LLC) medium consisting of F127, n-C(4)H(9)OH and H(2)O. The edge length of gold nanoplates can be adjusted from tens to several hundreds nanometers (and even a few micrometers) by varying the concentration of Au(3+) and the seeds solution volume. The optical properties of the synthesized gold nanoplates were studied. The vis-NIR spectra of the synthesized gold nanoplates exhibited a good linear correlation between the in-plane plasmon resonance lambda(max) and the average edge length of the corresponding nanoplates.