File Name : fig. 2.tiff

Caption : fig. 2 gold nanorods (aunrs) obtained by the seeding method [18]. a) aunrs suspension; b) absorption spectrum and c) stem image (for better details, the readers are referred to the digital images provided as esi).

File Name : fig. 3.tiff

Caption : fig. 3 bse images of: a) a5 sample; b) b5 sample. insets correspond to samples observed at higher magnifications (for better details, the readers are referred to the digital images provided as esi).

File Name : fig. 4.tiff

Caption : fig. 4 eds analysis carried out on (a5) sample. in a) the individual eds analysis marked as selected area 1 over aunrs and selected area 2 on the surface of the silica matrix correspond with the spectra to the left. in b) eds analysis was carried out at higher magnifications to improve local chemical analysis (for better details, the readers are referred to the digital images provided as esi).