Synthesis of anisotropic gold shell on carbon nanotube

This paper reports a simple procedure to synthesize gold-coated carbon nanotubes. The method involves the reduction of gold precursor on oxidized carbon nanotubes. UV–Visible absorption spectroscopy and electron microscopy were used to study the gold precursor reduction on the carbon nanotubes. Scanning and transmission electron microscopy analysis showed the formation of an irregular gold layer around the CNT surface. The resulting nanoparticles show an anisotropic shape with dimensions between 100 and 200 nm. This hybrid material displays an intense absorption in the near infrared range with an absorption maximum at 840 nm.