Efficient end-to-end assembly of gold nanorods via cyclodextrin-bisphenol A based supramolecular linker

The efficient end-to-end assembly of gold nanorods (GNRs) was realized via a new host-guest supramolecular linker consisting of a bisphenol A (BPA) guest molecule and two mono-(6-mercapto-6-deoxy)-beta-cyclodextrin (HS-CD) host molecules. The end-to-end assembly of GNRs was thoroughly characterized by UV-Vis spectra and TEM images. With the time prolonged, the longitudinal plasmon absorption peak of GNRs gradually shifted toward the longer wavelength, which indicated the formation of end-to-end assembly of GNRs. TEM images also showed that GNRs assembled predominantly in an end-to-end manner. Since the BPA and HS-CDs are all commercially available, this extremely simple and convenient method may have potential and important application to build linear functional nanodevices.