Synthetic Routes and Plasmonic Properties of Noble Metal Nanoplates

This article provides an overview of recent research on the synthesis and surface-plasmon-related properties of noble metal nanoplates. The first part is dedicated to summarizing the most relevant wet-chemical and physical synthetic protocols that have been used to obtain Au and Ag nanotriangles/nanoplates in high yield, with a discussion of the formation mechanisms proposed by the different authors. Finally, we present a description of the characteristic optical properties of nanoparticles with this particular morphology, in relation with the possibility of exciting different surface plasmon modes and concentrating high electromagnetic fields at certain areas, which is important for applications in surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS).