Metal Nanoparticles for Molecular Plasmonics

This review provides an overview about nanoparticle synthesis and the characterization of related optical properties of homogeneous as well as bimetallic nanoparticles made of gold, silver, and other metals. The optical properties of metal nanoparticles (plasmonic nanoparticles) depend strongly on the metal that is used, but also on the size, the shape, the surrounding medium, and the interparticle distance. The progress in the controlled synthesis as well as sophisticated bioconjugation of metal nanoparticles in combination with molecular principles lead to the new field of nanoparticle-based molecular nanotechnology, the molecular plasmonics. Applications are envisioned in the fields of bioanalytics and nanooptics.