Chemical Interface Damping of Silver-coated Gold Nanorods Using Supramolecular Host-Guest Chemistry

We present the chemical interface damping (CID) of single Ag-coated Au nanorods (AuNRs@Ag) using cucurbit[7]uril (CB[7])-based host-guest chemistry. The chemisorption of CB[7]-NH2 onto an AuNR@Ag surface resulted in a redshift of its localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR) scattering peak, with a considerably increased linewidth. This LSPR broadening was ascribed to CID caused by the formation of a strong nitrogen-Ag interaction during the chemisorption of CB[7]-NH2 onto the AuNR@Ag surface. Furthermore, we observed additional broadening of the LSPR linewidth when the guest molecule (oxaliplatin) was encapsulated into CB[7]-NH2 chemisorbed onto the AuNR@Ag surface.