Surface-plasmon-enhanced ultraviolet emission of Au-decorated ZnO structures for gas sensing and photocatalytic devices

• T. Anh Thu Do,
• Truong Giang Ho,
• Thu Hoai Bui,
• Quang Ngan Pham,
• Hong Thai Giang,
• Thi Thu Do,
• Duc Van Nguyen and
• Dai Lam Tran

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2018, 9, 771–779, doi:10.3762/bjnano.9.70

• improved response (τRes = 9 s) and recovery time (τRec = 39 s). The enhanced gas sensing performance and photocatalytic degradation processes are suggested to be attributed to not only the surface plasmon resonance effect, but also due to a Schottky barrier between plasmonic Au and ZnO structures

• response/recovery times. The various origins of these properties are commonly assigned to the following two phenomena: (i) a surface plasmon resonance (SPR) effect of plasmonic gold nanoparticles (Au NPs) could certainly take place and contribute to the electrical transport behavior for Au-decorated ZnO

• surface plasmon resonance band of Au NPs, which further confirms the formation of the hybrid Au NP/ZnO structures [24][25]. Using the Kubelka–Munk function and Tauc plots, the band gaps (Eg) were determined as 3.3 and 3.2 eV for ZnO and Au NPs/ZnO, respectively, as shown in Figure 3b. It can be seen that

Mechanistic insights into plasmonic photocatalysts in utilizing visible light

• Kah Hon Leong,
• Azrina Abd Aziz,
• Lan Ching Sim,
• Pichiah Saravanan,
• Min Jang and
• Detlef Bahnemann

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2018, 9, 628–648, doi:10.3762/bjnano.9.59

• : localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR); noble metal; plasmonic photocatalyst; reactive radicals; Schottky junctions; visible light; Review Introduction Photocatalysts have played and will continue to play a pivotal role in environmental and energy applications in order to fulfil the needs of the

• will lead to a pathway for better utilization of the solar spectrum. The invention and progression of plasmonic photocatalysts laid a foundation for the successful utilisation of longer wavelengths, known as “visible light photocatalysis”. The localised surface plasmon resonance (LSPR) is a unique

• allow the enhanced absorption of photon energy from the visible light spectrum. Larger metallic nanoparticles (>5 nm) produce a robust surface plasmon emission in the visible spectrum [10]. The intensity of the plasmon band is highly dependent on the morphology, surrounding medium dielectric constant

Facile phase transfer of gold nanorods and nanospheres stabilized with block copolymers

• Yaroslav I. Derikov,
• Georgiy A. Shandryuk,
• Raisa V. Talroze,
• Alexander A. Ezhov and
• Yaroslav V. Kudryavtsev

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2018, 9, 616–627, doi:10.3762/bjnano.9.58

• hydro- and organosols with the data of numerical simulations of the surface plasmon resonance, we find that nanoparticles do not aggregate and confirm the transmission electron microscopy data regarding their shape and size. The proposed approach can be effective in preparing hybrid composites without

• , while PS blocks form coronas preventing nanorod aggregation. Modeling the extinction spectra of Au nanorods Two bands in the optical absorbance spectra (Figure 1b) of the Au nanorods are attributed to the transverse (TE) and longitudinal (TM) plasmon modes, respectively [40]. The position of the former

• nanorod rather than for a dimer. Thus, the simulations corroborate our estimates of the nanorod mean length and diameter by TEM and indicate that side-by-side stacking of Au nanorods and their aggregation in general are not typical for our system. It is known [45][46] that the TM and TE plasmon bands for

Colloidal solution of silver nanoparticles for label-free colorimetric sensing of ammonia in aqueous solutions

• Alessandro Buccolieri,
• Antonio Serra,
• Gabriele Giancane and
• Daniela Manno

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2018, 9, 499–507, doi:10.3762/bjnano.9.48

• analysis provides the basis for the production of a colorimetric label-free sensor for ammonia. Overall, surface plasmon resonance increases when ammonia concentration rises, although the functional trend is not the same over the entire investigated ammonia concentration range. Three different ranges have

• particular silver nanoparticles (AgNPs), are often considered for analytical application because of their peculiar optical and electrical properties [13]. The surface plasmon resonance (SPR) properties of metal nanoparticles are considered very useful for the use of colloidal solutions in the field of

• cations and ammonia anions are formed, the formation of Ag nanoparticles is inhibited. Recent results seem to disagree with previous reports about the role of ammonia and show an increase in the plasmon resonance intensity of silver nanoparticles synthesized in the presence of ammonia [23][24]. On the

High-contrast and reversible scattering switching via hybrid metal-dielectric metasurfaces

• Jonathan Ward,
• Khosro Zangeneh Kamali,
• Lei Xu,
• Guoquan Zhang,
• Andrey E. Miroshnichenko and
• Mohsen Rahmani

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2018, 9, 460–467, doi:10.3762/bjnano.9.44

• ][12][13], which utilize the interaction between light and metallic nanoparticles to generate surface plasmon resonances, inducing a strong electromagnetic field on the metallic surface. They benefit from a large tunability and capability to significantly enhance the near-field intensity, and have

Bombyx mori silk/titania/gold hybrid materials for photocatalytic water splitting: combining renewable raw materials with clean fuels

• Stefanie Krüger,
• Michael Schwarze,
• Otto Baumann,
• Christina Günter,
• Michael Bruns,
• Christian Kübel,
• Dorothée Vinga Szabó,
• Rafael Meinusch,
• Verónica de Zea Bermudez and
• Andreas Taubert

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2018, 9, 187–204, doi:10.3762/bjnano.9.21

• ·3H2O could lead to smaller particles and consequently to very few reaction centers or the reduction of the Au plasmon in the materials, thereby reducing the overall effectiveness of the photocatalytic activation of the reaction. Comparison of the efficiency of the current materials with other materials

Comparative study of post-growth annealing of Cu(hfac)₂, Co₂(CO)₈ and Me₂Au(acac) metal precursors deposited by FEBID

• Marcos V. Puydinger dos Santos,
• Aleksandra Szkudlarek,
• Artur Rydosz,
• Carlos Guerra-Nuñez,
• Fanny Béron,
• Kleber R. Pirota,
• Stanislav Moshkalev,
• José Alexandre Diniz and
• Ivo Utke

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2018, 9, 91–101, doi:10.3762/bjnano.9.11

• ratios, as well as the lower G band peak shift (Figure 3c–e) indicate a minor influence of this type of metal on the graphitisation process (compared to Co and Cu) during annealing. It is worth mentioning that plasmon-assisted heating of the interface between amorphous carbon deposits and the substrate

Growth model and structure evolution of Ag layers deposited on Ge films

• Arkadiusz Ciesielski,
• Lukasz Skowronski,
• Ewa Górecka,
• Jakub Kierdaszuk and
• Tomasz Szoplik

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2018, 9, 66–76, doi:10.3762/bjnano.9.9

• -assembly; silver; thin films; Introduction Silver is a noble metal with lowest loss in the visible to the near-infrared wavelengths; therefore, the surface plasmon polariton (SPP) wave propagation length crucial for plasmonic devices is greatest at Ag/dielectric interfaces [1][2][3]. A pure Ag layer of 35

Nematic liquid crystal alignment on subwavelength metal gratings

• Irina V. Kasyanova,
• Artur R. Geivandov,
• Vladimir V. Artemov,
• Maxim V. Gorkunov and
• Serguei P. Palto

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2018, 9, 42–47, doi:10.3762/bjnano.9.6

• a liquid crystal into a hybrid system is especially interesting as it can result in even more novel and interesting properties. In our recent work, we showed that liquid crystals strongly affect both the plasmon resonance and light polarization properties of subwavelength metal gratings [9

• = 1/3. For this grating both TM and TE-mode FT spectra show pronounced splitting. However, it is known [9] that for the gratings with this geometry there is a plasmon resonance for the TM mode and the transmittance resonance for the TE mode in the spectral range of 500–600 nm. Therefore, the Fabry

Thermo- and electro-optical properties of photonic liquid crystal fibers doped with gold nanoparticles

• Agata Siarkowska,
• Miłosz Chychłowski,
• Daniel Budaszewski,
• Bartłomiej Jankiewicz,
• Bartosz Bartosewicz and
• Tomasz R. Woliński

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2017, 8, 2790–2801, doi:10.3762/bjnano.8.278

• biology [20] due to their optical properties. These properties are related to the interaction of light with electrons on the NP surface. At a specific frequency of light, the oscillation of electrons on the Au NP surface causes an effect called localized surface plasmon resonance. This phenomena can

• result in absorption or scattering of light (Figure 1b). Depending on the size, concentration or shape of the particles, the plasmon resonance can appear at different wavelengths. Moreover, NPs can also provide different properties for the host material. For example, Au NPs have a tendency to lower the

• a behavior in terms of plasmon resonance tuning, i.e., NPs absorbing at a selective wavelength can heat LC molecules, thus shifting the propagation spectrum. A similar effect can be observed in PLCFs, but the mechanism of PBG tuning was thermally induced [33]. However, we believe that the observed

Facile synthesis of silver/silver thiocyanate (Ag@AgSCN) plasmonic nanostructures with enhanced photocatalytic performance

• Xinfu Zhao,
• Dairong Chen,
• Abdul Qayum,
• Bo Chen and
• Xiuling Jiao

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2017, 8, 2781–2789, doi:10.3762/bjnano.8.277

• visible-light irradiation. In addition to the microstructure and high specific surface area, the enhanced photocatalytic activity was mainly caused by the surface plasmon resonance of Ag nanoparticles, and the high stability of AgSCN resulted in the long-term stability of the photocatalyst product

• irradiated for 3 h, indicating the slow reduction of AgSCN under UV irradiation. UV–vis diffuse reflectance spectra of M0, M1, M2, M3, M4, and M5 are shown in Figure 2a. Here, the characteristic absorption of AgSCN appears at 200–350 nm and that from the surface plasmon resonance of Ag particles is above 350

• presence of silver particles not only improves the photocatalytic efficiency, but also enhances the electric field strength around AgSCN due to the surface plasmon resonance, which in turn enhances the optical transition of midgap defect states of AgSCN. All these conditions contribute to the strong

Impact of titanium dioxide nanoparticles on purification and contamination of nematic liquid crystals

• Dmitrii Pavlovich Shcherbinin and
• Elena A. Konshina

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2017, 8, 2766–2770, doi:10.3762/bjnano.8.275

• addition, nanoparticles can induce other new functions in liquid crystals, including improved response time [14][15], surface plasmon resonance [16], and improvements in alignment [17]. The ionic contamination of LCs remains one of the challenges to LC technology. Ionic conductivity negatively affects LC

Refractive index sensing and surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy using silver–gold layered bimetallic plasmonic crystals

• Somi Kang,
• Sean E. Lehman,
• Matthew V. Schulmerich,
• An-Phong Le,
• Tae-woo Lee,
• Stephen K. Gray,
• Rohit Bhargava and
• Ralph G. Nuzzo

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2017, 8, 2492–2503, doi:10.3762/bjnano.8.249

• useful new platform for chemical/spectroscopic sensing. Keywords: finite-difference time-domain; nanoimprint soft lithography; plasmonics; surface plasmon resonance; Introduction Studies of surface plasmons have attracted significant attention due to the diverse range of applications and processes in

• are excited by electromagnetic radiation incident at a metal/dielectric interface. This results in an evanescent decaying electric field that extends from the metal surface for ≈100–200 nm (surface plasmon polaritons), or it can also manifest as a localized surface plasmon resonance at the surface of

• , and nanoscale holes or voids to effect couplings and further obtain stronger electromagnetic fields and higher spatial resolution from localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR) [18][19][20][21][22][23][24][25][26][27]. Many fabrication methods have been described that provide structures capable of

Laser-assisted fabrication of gold nanoparticle-composed structures embedded in borosilicate glass

• Nikolay Nedyalkov,
• Mihaela Koleva,
• Nadya Stankova,
• Rosen Nikov,
• Mitsuhiro Terakawa,
• Yasutaka Nakajima,
• Lyubomir Aleksandrov and
• Reni Iordanova

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2017, 8, 2454–2463, doi:10.3762/bjnano.8.244

• , the color of the irradiated areas changed to pink, with a corresponding well-defined peak in the absorbance spectrum. We relate this effect to the formation of gold nanoparticles with optical properties defined by plasmon excitation. Their presence was confirmed by high-resolution TEM analysis. No

• an electromagnetic field with these objects are defined by the efficiency of the plasmon excitation (i.e., collective oscillations of the free electrons at a specific frequency defined by the properties of the metal and the surrounding medium) [1]. On resonance, when the electromagnetic field

• frequency equals that of the plasmon, the optical properties of the nanoparticles drastically change. The extinction coefficient is strongly enhanced, and its value may exceed the off-resonance extinction coefficient value by orders of magnitude [2]. While at the turn of the century research interest was

Au nanostructure fabrication by pulsed laser deposition in open air: Influence of the deposition geometry

• Rumen G. Nikov,
• Anna Og. Dikovska,
• Nikolay N. Nedyalkov,
• Georgi V. Avdeev and
• Petar A. Atanasov

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2017, 8, 2438–2445, doi:10.3762/bjnano.8.242

• in the transmission spectra with minimum at ≈520 nm. The presence of this feature in the transmission could be attributed to a plasmon excitation in the nanostructures. The deposition using geometry 4 resulted in an almost flat spectrum with the lowest transmission (<3%) and no clear plasmon behavior

• nanostructures considered result from the interplay of complex phenomena arising from the complex nanoparticle-ensemble morphology of the structures as no individual nanoparticles are present. The pronounced expression and definition of a plasmon resonance band is thus hindered. In such a case, the optical

• properties are defined by the collective effects (as multiple scattering and plasmon coupling) of an electromagnetic field interacting with nanoparticle ensembles. This leads to a broadening of the resonance band, where the optical properties of a single nanoparticle are not expressed. To examine the

Fabrication of gold-coated PDMS surfaces with arrayed triangular micro/nanopyramids for use as SERS substrates

• Jingran Zhang,
• Yongda Yan,
• Peng Miao and
• Jianxiong Cai

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2017, 8, 2271–2282, doi:10.3762/bjnano.8.227

• glass. A further advantage is that laser light can pass through the polymer substrate and reach the nanoparticle layer to activate the plasmon resonance, which generates the enormous SERS enhancement. A SERS substrate with good transparency and flexibility was prepared as a self-assembly of gold

Ta₂N₃ nanocrystals grown in Al₂O₃ thin layers

• Krešimir Salamon,
• Maja Buljan,
• Iva Šarić,
• Mladen Petravić and
• Sigrid Bernstorff

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2017, 8, 2162–2170, doi:10.3762/bjnano.8.215

• light to nano-scale structures via local surface plasmon resonance (LSPR) [1]. LSPR produces a strong near-field enhancement and a local heating [2][3], which are considered to be promising in several applications ranging from surface-enhanced Raman scattering [4], to catalysis [5] and heat-assisted

Substrate and Mg doping effects in GaAs nanowires

• Perumal Kannappan,
• Nabiha Ben Sedrine,
• Jennifer P. Teixeira,
• Maria R. Soares,
• Bruno P. Falcão,
• Maria R. Correia,
• Nestor Cifuentes,
• Emilson R. Viana,
• Marcus V. B. Moreira,
• Geraldo M. Ribeiro,
• Alfredo G. de Oliveira,
• Juan C. González and
• Joaquim P. Leitão

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2017, 8, 2126–2138, doi:10.3762/bjnano.8.212

• ). For two of the investigated nanowires, our values are in good agreement with a recent result (≈31 cm2/Vs) in p-type Si-doped GaAs nanowires, obtained by measuring the plasmon–phonon interactions using transmission Raman spectroscopy [59] and, on average, clearly higher than the reported value (0.417

Synthesis and characterization of noble metal–titania core–shell nanostructures with tunable shell thickness

• Bartosz Bartosewicz,
• Marta Michalska-Domańska,
• Malwina Liszewska,
• Dariusz Zasada and
• Bartłomiej J. Jankiewicz

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2017, 8, 2083–2093, doi:10.3762/bjnano.8.208

• , Kaliskiego 2 Str. 00-908 Warsaw, Poland 10.3762/bjnano.8.208 Abstract Core–shell nanostructures have found applications in many fields, including surface enhanced spectroscopy, catalysis and solar cells. Titania-coated noble metal nanoparticles, which combine the surface plasmon resonance properties of the

• great potential for use in these applications [18][19]. Surface plasmon resonance properties of gold and silver NPs can increase the optical absorption of titania and extend its absorption band to the visible light region. Such CSNs could allow one of the most important limitations in broader use of

• titania to be overcome: the limitation of photocatalytic capability to UV light (λ < 400 nm). In addition, they may serve as a precursor for plasmon-sensitized colloidal perovskites, which are materials of great interest for solar cell applications [20]. The limiting factor in the broader use of Ag@TiO2

Imidazolium-based ionic liquids used as additives in the nanolubrication of silicon surfaces

• Patrícia M. Amorim,
• Ana M. Ferraria,
• Rogério Colaço,
• Luís C. Branco and
• Benilde Saramago

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2017, 8, 1961–1971, doi:10.3762/bjnano.8.197

• (S 2p3/2 + S 2p1/2), which is superposed to the Si 2s plasmon loss. Comparison was, therefore, based on the S 2s peaks. In both samples, the signal to noise ratio is very poor (Figure 7b). Anyway, the smoothed data (full black lines) show different S 2s peaks in the sample treated with PEG + [EMIM

Methionine-mediated synthesis of magnetic nanoparticles and functionalization with gold quantum dots for theranostic applications

• Arūnas Jagminas,
• Agnė Mikalauskaitė,
• Vitalijus Karabanovas and
• Jūrate Vaičiūnienė

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2017, 8, 1734–1741, doi:10.3762/bjnano.8.174

• at 291 nm is observed. The UV–vis absorption spectrum of the solution containing the gold species collected from the surface of the cobalt ferrite NPs (Figure 3, plot 3) exhibits two absorption shoulders at 522 and 377 nm. The former seems to be originated from the surface plasmon absorption of

Near-infrared-responsive, superparamagnetic Au@Co nanochains

• Varadee Vittur,
• Arati G. Kolhatkar,
• Shreya Shah,
• Irene Rusakova,
• Dmitri Litvinov and
• T. Randall Lee

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2017, 8, 1680–1687, doi:10.3762/bjnano.8.168

• nanoparticles not only renders the nanoparticles biocompatible but also gives rise to distinct optical properties [18][19]. Noble metal nanoparticles, such as gold and silver, possess the unique property of surface plasmon resonance (SPR); the latter exhibit a strong extinction band in the visible region [19

• arising from the difference between their reduction potentials. Cobalt cores were oxidized by H+ from aqueous HAuCl4 solution until Co nanoparticles were completely consumed, which led to the formation of the hollow gold nanostructures. The surface plasmon resonance of these particles appeared at 628 nm

• related nanostructures [28][29][30]. This considerable increase can be attributed to the formation of both the hollow interior and the chain structure in the present materials. Previous research on Au and Ag nanochains demonstrated that the plasmon resonance of two interacting particles undergoes a red

Two-dimensional carbon-based nanocomposites for photocatalytic energy generation and environmental remediation applications

• Suneel Kumar,
• Ashish Kumar,
• Ashish Bahuguna,
• Vipul Sharma and
• Venkata Krishnan

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2017, 8, 1571–1600, doi:10.3762/bjnano.8.159

Fixation mechanisms of nanoparticles on substrates by electron beam irradiation

• Daichi Morioka,
• Tomohiro Nose,
• Taiki Chikuta,
• Kazutaka Mitsuishi and
• Masayuki Shimojo

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2017, 8, 1523–1529, doi:10.3762/bjnano.8.153

• been attracting attention because these arrays and patterns offer unique electrical and optical properties. One of the applications of such nanostructure arrays is plasmonic waveguides, in which the energy of light propagates because of the localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR) effect [1][2]. In

• particular, arrays of gold or silver nanostructures can be used for such waveguides, as nanostructures made of these materials interact with visible light. Such LSPR structures would make the development of smaller optical circuits and devices possible. Plasmon propagation through nanowires or rows of

A top-down approach for fabricating three-dimensional closed hollow nanostructures with permeable thin metal walls

• Carlos Angulo Barrios and
• Víctor Canalejas-Tejero

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2017, 8, 1231–1237, doi:10.3762/bjnano.8.124

• previous work [11], the SU-8 nanopillar array reflectance exhibits two dips: at λ ≈ 640 nm, due to a metal-assisted, guided mode resonance (MaGMR), and at λ ≈ 840 nm, due to a surface plasmon polariton (SPP). Both of these dips are related to the Al layer (Si substrate coating) of thickness 100 nm on which

• field (Ex) and y-component of the magnetic field (Hy) at the reflectance peak (λ = 700 nm) are shown in Figure 4. Ex and Hy are enhanced and localized at the edges and on top of the metal disk, respectively, suggesting the excitation of a localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR). On another hand, the