Anisotropic and controllable silver shell formation on gold nanorods was realized in a micellar solution of hexadecytrimethylammonium chloride. Uniformity of the anisotropic Au-Ag core-shell particles contributes separation of four extinction bands. The ability to manipulate the shapes and sizes of these nanoparticles offers a wide-range control of the surface extinction from the visible to the near infrared regions (450-800 nm).

We performed the first investigations of coherent acoustic phonons in Au-Ag core-shell nanorods, which were compared with the results of parental Au nanorods. Both breathing and extensional modes were observed in Au-Ag core-shell nanorods with ~11 nm Ag shell while only extensional modes were detected in other core-shell nanorods with 4-7 nm Ag shell. Young's modulus estimated from the oscillation period of extensional modes was found to be larger for Au-Ag core-shell nanorods with ~4 nm Ag shell, as compared with that of Au nanorods. The value of Young's modulus decreases with the increase of the Ag shell thickness and finally becomes smaller than that of Au nanorods. This phenomenon is interpreted in terms of the surface effects and the existence of grain boundaries in the lattice structure of Ag shell.

Rapid chemical reduction of silver ions forming silver shells on gold nanorods was realized in a micellar solution of hexadecyltrimethylammonium chloride. It was shown that the stable bilayers of hexadecyltrimethylammonium bromide on gold surfaces contributed to retard the chemical reduction of silver ions on the gold surfaces.