Review of synthesis and sensing applications of anisotropic silver and gold nanostructures

Due to their unique optical properties, anisotropic silver and gold nanostructures are widely studied for applications ranging from catalysis to sensing and imaging. The wet chemical synthesis method provides a convenient route to produce desired nanostructures with good control over the morphology of nanoparticles. Nanostructures prepared in the solutions can be loaded on the substrate to fabricate cost-effective nanoplasmonic substrates at a large scale. This review discusses the various strategies available to synthesize anisotropic silver and gold nanostructures by wet chemical methods. The applications of these nanostructures are also presented, particularly in the context of localized surface plasmon resonance-based refractometric sensing.