Rational design of oriented assembly of gold nanospheres with nanorods by biotin–streptavidin connectors

Through the different functionalities on Au nanosphere (AuNSs) and Au nanorod (AuNRs) surfaces, we successfully control AuNSs attachment onto either the end or side surface of anisotropic AuNRs via bio-recognition, and then consciously construct side-by-side or end-to-end assembly nanostructures. This study provides a feasible approach to organize nanoparticles with different morphologies into controllable assembly geometries, which can potentially benefit the construction of future nanodevices.