Plasmon-assisted site-selective growth of Ag nanotriangles and Ag-Cu₂O hybrids

We report a plasmon-assisted growth of metal and semiconductor onto the tips of Ag nanotriangles (AgNTs) under light irradiation. The site-selective growth of Ag onto AgNTs are firstly demonstrated on the copper grids and amine-coated glass slides. As the irradiation time increases, microscopic images indicate that AgNTs gradually touch with each other and finally "weld" tip-to-tip together into the branched chains. Meanwhile, the redshift of plasmon band is observed in the extinction spectra, which agrees well the growth at the tips of AgNTs and the decrease of the gaps between the adjacent nanotriangles. We also synthesize AgNT-Cu₂O nanocomposites by using a photochemical method and find that the Cu₂O nanoparticles preferably grow on the tips of AgNTs. The site-selective growth of Ag and Cu₂O is interpreted by the local field concentration at the tips of AgNTs induced by surface plasmon resonance under light excitation.