Gold nanorods are excellent candidate as biosensing materials because they are highly refractive index sensitive to trace amount of bio-molecules. The index sensitivity and figure of merit of gold nanorods are closely related to their morphology details, for example, the size, aspect ratio and end profile.

Huanjun Chen, Xiaoshan Kou, Zhi Yang, Weihai Ni, Jianfang Wang*, Shape- and Size-Dependent Refractive Index Sensitivity of Gold Nanoparticles. Langmuir 2008, 24, 5233-5237. 

Yih Hong Lee, Huanjun Chen, Qing-Hua Xu*, Jianfang Wang*, Shape-Dependent Refractive Index Sensitivities of Gold Nanocrystals with the Same Plasmon Resonance Wavelength. The Journal of Physical Chemistry C 2011, 115, 7997-8004.

SERS was proven to be a superior method for bio-labelling and imaging base on laser scanning microscopy. Gold nanorods are perfect candidate as contrast agents for SERS labeling and imaging of live cells and tissues because of their high Raman luminance under NIR laser and excellent chemical inertia.

Geoffrey von Maltzahn, Andrea Centrone, Ji-Ho Park, Renuka Ramanathan, Michael J. Sailor, T. Alan Hatton, Sangeeta N. Bhatia*, SERS-Coded Gold Nanorods as a Multifunctional Platform for Densely Multiplexed Near-Infrared Imaging and Photothermal Heating. Advanced Materials 2009, 21, 3175-3180.

Jesse V. Jokerst, Adam J. Cole, Dominique Van de Sompel, Sanjiv S. Gambhir*, Gold Nanorods for Ovarian Cancer Detection with Photoacoustic Imaging and Resection Guidance via Raman Imaging in Living Mice. ACS Nano 2012, 6, 10366-10377.

Gold nanorods with suitable width and aspect ratios can absorb strongly in the NIR region, which enables them for photothermal cancer therapy. The photothermal conversion efficiencies of gold nanorods are strongly dependent on their morphology.

Meiru Lu, Aihua Qu, Si Li, Maozhong Sun,* Liguang Xu, Hua Kuang,* Chuanlai Xu, Mitochondria-Targeting Plasmonic Spiky Nanorods Increase the Elimination of Aging Cells in Vivo. Angewandte Chemie International Edition 2020, 59, 8698-8705.

Zhenjiang Zhang, Jing Wang, Xin Nie, Tao Wen, Yinglu Ji, Xiaochun Wu, Yuliang Zhao, Chunying Chen*, Near Infrared Laser-Induced Targeted Cancer Therapy Using Thermoresponsive Polymer Encapsulated Gold Nanorods. Journal of the American Chemical Society 2014, 136, 7317-7326.

Babak Nikoobakht, Mostafa A. El-Sayed*, Preparation and Growth Mechanism of Gold Nanorods (NRs) Using Seed-Mediated Growth Method. Chemistry of Materials 2003, 15, 1957-1962.

Tapan K. Sau, Catherine J. Murphy*, Seeded High Yield Synthesis of Short Au Nanorods in Aqueous Solution. Langmuir 2004, 20, 6414-6420.

Weihai Ni, Xiaoshan Kou, Zhi Yang, Jianfang Wang*, Tailoring Longitudinal Surface Plasmon Wavelengths, Scattering and Absorption Cross Sections of Gold Nanorods. ACS Nano 2008, 2, 677-686.

Xingchen Ye, Chen Zheng, Jun Chen, Yuzhi Gao, Christopher B. Murray*, Using Binary Surfactant Mixtures To Simultaneously Improve the Dimensional Tunability and Monodispersity in the Seeded Growth of Gold Nanorods. Nano Letters 2013, 13, 765-771.

Qingfeng Zhang, Yadong Zhou, Esteban Villarreal, Ye Lin, Shengli Zou, Hui Wang*, Faceted Gold Nanorods: Nanocuboids, Convex Nanocuboids, and Concave Nanocuboids. Nano Letters 2015, 15, 4161-4169.

Hang Yin, Nannan Li, Yubing Si, Han Zhang, Baocheng Yang*, Jianfang Wang*, Gold Nanonails for Surface-Enhanced Infrared Absorption. Nanoscale Horizons 2020, 5, 1200-1212.