Influence of mercury amalgamation on three‐dimensional orientation of single gold nanorods coated with mesoporous silica shell

Herein, we performed single-particle studies to reveal three-dimensional spatial orientational changes in the AuNR cores coated with mesoporous silica shell (AuNRs@mSiO(2)) following mercury (Hg) amalgamation. Defocused orientation imaging technique was used to determine the tilting angle of single AuNR cores after Au-Hg amalgam formation. Single amalgamated AuNR cores inside the silica shell were randomly tilted between 0 degrees and 20 degrees with respect to the glass slide on which they were deposited; no orientational changes were observed for AuNRs@mSiO(2) following Hg amalgamation. This study will help in better understanding the effect of silica shell on the morphological and orientation alterations of single AuNRs@mSiO(2) induced by Hg amalgamation.