Analytical characterization of gold nanoparticle primary particles,aggregates, agglomerates,and agglomerated aggregates

Gold nanoparticles have been studied for many biomedical applications. However, alterations in the gold nanoparticles’ environment frequently lead to the formation of aggregates and agglomerates, which have not been well characterized. These new structures could significantly change the biological impact of the nanoparticles, so the appropriate characterization of these structures prior to biological administration is vital for the correct interpretation of toxicology results. By varying the solvent or heating under pressure, four reproducible gold nanoparticles structures were created: 10 nm primary particles, aggregates of the primary particles that contain non-reversible bonds between the individual nanoparticles, agglomerates of primary particles that contain reversible interactions between the individual nanoparticles, and agglomerated aggregates that have reversible bonds linking individual aggregates. Ultraviolet–visible (UV–Vis) spectroscopy, thermal gravitational analysis, and neutron activation analysis were each found to accurately measure the concentration of the primary particles. The primary particles measured 10 nm by dynamic light scattering (DLS) and had a spherical morphology by transmission electron microscopy (TEM) while the aggregates measured 110 nm by DLS and had a distorted morphology by TEM. The agglomerate and aggregated agglomerate samples both measured >1,000 nm by DLS, but the individual particles had significantly different morphologies by TEM. Multiple other analytical techniques, including ultracentrifugation, gel electrophoresis, and X-ray diffraction, also showed unique traits for each structure. The structural differences did not change in the presence of cell culture media or rat serum. In addition, the primary particles, aggregates, and agglomerates each had a unique UV–Vis spectrum, allowing for an inexpensive, rapid method to differentiate between the structures.     

Measurement of the complex dielectric constant of a single gold nanoparticle

A differential interference contrast microscopy technique that employs a photonic crystal fiber as a white-light source is used to measure both the real and the imaginary part of the complex dielectric constant of single 10 and 15 nm gold nanoparticles over a wavelength range of 480 to 610 nm. Noticeable deviations from bulk gold measurements are observed at short wavelengths and for individual particles even after taking into account finite-size surface damping effects.     

Dependence of the properties of the dual luminescence of 3-hydroxyflavone on the excitation wavelength

The luminescence and luminescence excitation spectra of 3-hydroxyflavone in acetonitrile obtained at different excitation/recording wavelengths are studied. The dependences of the position of the normal luminescence band maximum and of the intensity ratio of the normal and proton-transfer bands, on the excitation wavelength are found and studied for the first time. It is found that the spectral contour of dual luminescence also depends on the excitation wavelength and the blue emission band is cut off at a sufficiently long-wavelength excitation in the region of 390 nm. In the luminescence excitation spectrum, an additional wide band is observed in the proton-transfer region at 200–260 nm. Excitation in the region of 380–440 nm allowed us to reveal a wide structureless band near 470 nm (with the maximum of its excitation near 420 nm) belonging to the anionic form of 3-hydroxyflavone. Addition of water at a concentration of ～2.2 M quenches this band almost completely.     

Shifting of Fluorescence Peak in CdS Nanoparticles by Excitation Wavelength Change

CdS nanoparticles with different size are prepared by chemical bath deposition method. These particles show strong fluorescence at emission wavelength of 507 nm. It has been observed that this emission peak changes through a range of 147 nm, by varying the excitation wavelengths through 370–480 nm.The emission peak can thus be tuned by varying the excitation wavelengths. This peak emission wavelength shift is due to the selective excitation of vibronic levels in the surface state of the CdS nanoparticles.     

Effect of silver nanoparticles with different shapes on luminescence of samarium complex at two different excitation wavelengths

The luminescence properties of Sm(TTFA)₃ complex in presence of the silver (Ag) nanoparticles with size ranged from 80 nm to 120 nm and different shapes (nanorod, cube, tetrahedron, and nanowire) were investigated at two different excitation wavelengths of 397 nm and 350 nm, which was resonant and off-resonant excitation, respectively. The luminescence enhancement for the resonant excitation was much greater than that for the off-resonant excitation. The electric and magnetic dipole transitions were affected by the Ag nanoparticles and the results showed that their emission enhancement depended on the balance of the overlap between the emission wavelengths and the localized surface plasmon resonant of nanoparticles and their sensibility to the variation of local environments. The enhancement and quenching of the luminescence were both observed at the resonant excitation.     

Crystal LiNbO<Subscript>3</Subscript>-Ho<Superscript>3+</Superscript>: Material for optical cooling

The possibilities of LiNbO₃-Ho³⁺ crystals for optical cooling based on the anti-Stokes luminescence in the wavelength range 2000-2200 nm are investigated. The efficiency and cooling temperature under the continuous wave (CW) excitation at the wavelengths 2035-2071 nm by ~100 W power are estimated. It is shown that under the CW excitation at 2035 nm wavelength the maximum cooling temperature is equal to 2.5 K, and at 2071 nm wavelength is equal to 10.9 K.     

金纳米颗粒的紫外、蓝紫光波段光致荧光特性

采用电化学方法制备出粒径在20～30 nm的悬浮胶体金纳米颗粒。研究了金纳米颗粒的荧光发射光谱特性。在377和459 nm观察到两个荧光发射峰,分别位于紫外和蓝紫光波段,对应的敏感激发波长为220 nm。减小激发光强度或降低金纳米颗粒的粒子数密度都会使377 nm处的荧光发射峰强度减弱。位于459 nm处的荧光发射峰对激发光强度和颗粒数密度变化更为敏感,并且在激发光强度降低到一定阈值或粒子数密度高于一定阈值后消失。随着激发光强度的增加,位于377和459 nm处的两发射峰强度逐渐靠近,其比值逼近于1。实验结果与随机分布介质的自组织散射式谐振腔理论符合得较好。这表明胶体金纳米颗粒中存在循环多重散射,并由此引发了蓝光及紫外波段的荧光增强,这在光存储和全色显示等方面具有潜在的应用前景。     

Preparation and Time-Resolved Luminescence Bioassay Application of Multicolor Luminescent Lanthanide Nanoparticles

Because highly luminescent lanthanide compounds are limited to Eu³⁺ and Tb³⁺ compounds with red (Eu, ~615 nm) and green (Tb, ~545 nm) emission colors, the development and application of time-resolved luminescence bioassay technique using lanthanide-based multicolor luminescent biolabels have rarely been investigated. In this work, a series of lanthanide complexes covalently bound silica nanoparticles with an excitation maximum wavelength at 335 nm and red, orange, yellow and green emission colors has been prepared by co-binding different molar ratios of luminescent Eu³⁺–Tb³⁺ complexes with a ligand N,N,N¹,N¹-(4′-phenyl-2,2′:6′,2′′-terpyridine-6,6′′-diyl)bis(methylenenitrilo) tetrakis (acetic acid) inside the silica nanoparticles. The nanoparticles characterized by transmission electron microscopy and luminescence spectroscopy methods were used for streptavidin labeling, and time-resolved fluoroimmunoassay (TR-FIA) of human prostate-specific antigen (PSA) as well as time-resolved luminescence imaging detection of an environmental pathogen, Giardia lamblia. The results demonstrated the utility of the new multicolor luminescent lanthanide nanoparticles for time-resolved luminescence bioassays.     

Minimizing structural deformation of gold nanorods in plasmon-enhanced dye-sensitized solar cells

Plasmonic metal nanoparticles have shown great promise in enhancing the light absorption of organic dyes and thus improving the performance of dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs). However, as the plasmon resonance of spherical nanoparticles is limited to a single wavelength maximum (e.g., ~ 520 nm for Au nanoparticles), we have here utilized silica-coated gold nanorods (Au@SiO₂ NRs) to improve the performance at higher wavelengths as well. By adjusting the aspect ratio of the Au@SiO₂ NRs, we can shift their absorption maxima to better match the absorption spectrum of the utilized dye (here we targeted the 600–800 nm range). The main challenge in utilizing anisotropic nanoparticles in DSSCs is their deformation during the heating step required to sinter the mesoporous TiO₂ photoanode and we show that the Au@SiO₂ NRs start to deform already at temperatures as low as 200 °C. In order to circumvent this problem, we incorporated the Au@SiO₂ NRs in a TiO₂ nanoparticle suspension that does not need high sintering temperatures to produce a functional photoanode. With various characterization methods, we observed that adding the plasmonic particles also affected the structure of the produced films. Nonetheless, utilizing this low-temperature processing protocol, we were able to minimize the structural deformation of the gold nanorods and preserve their characteristic plasmon peaks. This allowed us to see a clear redshift of the maximum in the incident photon-to-current efficiency spectra of the plasmonic devices (Δλ ~ 14 nm), which further proves the great potential of utilizing Au@SiO₂ NRs in DSSCs.

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Graphical Abstract Undeformed gold nanorods provide an enhanced performance of dye-sensitized solar cells at high wavelengths

     

胶体金纳米颗粒的表面等离子体发射特性

利用电化学方法制备出粒径为20-80 nm的胶体金纳米颗粒。研究其荧光发射光谱特性,在485nm处观察到表面自由电子集体激发导致的表面等离子体共振发射峰,其位置不随激励光波长的变化而移动。当激励光波长为485 nm时,观察到最强的发射峰。在240和640 nm处,还观察到倍频发射峰和3/4分频发射峰。增加金纳米颗粒粒径,观察到发射谱的峰值增大而发射峰的位置只有很小的红移。     

A novel approach towards the production of luminescent silicon nanoparticles: sputtering, gas aggregation and co-deposition with H2O

Silicon clusters were produced by sputtering of a p-doped Si target and aggregation of the Si atoms in an argon gas atmosphere. The clusters were deposited in ultra high vacuum onto either (i) carbon transmission electron microscope (TEM) grids or (ii) a liquid nitrogen cooled finger on which a thick layer of ice was co-deposited during the exposure to the cluster beam. The ice layer containing the clusters was melted to form a liquid sample which showed luminescence peaking at 421 nm when excited at 307.5 nm. The luminescence is attributed to electron-hole recombination in oxygen deficient defects in the Si–SiO₂ interface region. TEM images of the nanoparticles deposited on the carbon grids show spherical particles with diameters ranging from 4 to 50 nm, flake-like structures or nanotube-like shapes. Grids with higher deposited densities reveal clusters that are agglomerated into chains, TEM images of the dried liquid sample show a network of fibres indicating that growth into fibres is further promoted when the clusters gain mobility in the melted ice.     

Nanostars on a fiber facet with near field enhancement for surface-enhanced Raman scattering detection

A 4-pointed gold nanostar is proposed to form the array on a fiber facet to achieve a greatly enhanced near field intensity for Surface-Enhanced Raman Scattering (SERS) detection. The proposed gold nanostar array has a Surface Plasmon Resonance (SPR) peaked at a wavelength of ～650 nm with up to 45 times electric field intensity enhancement compared with the state-of-the-art nanorod design. It has a wideband SPR field enhancement spanned from 600 to 720 nm, which covers the wavelengths for both the excitation light (632.8 nm) and the Raman signal of the analytes (675–706 nm); With symmetrical structure it forms four hot spots in every unit cell and can detect best for light polarized horizontal or perpendicular to the waist of the nanostars. It also could be altered to tune the SPR and allows the fiber sensor to resonate at different wavelengths, as demonstrated by an example at 533 nm. All the above features make the gold nanostar-based compact and portable fiber sensor an attractive solution for SERS detection.     

Synthesis and characterization of core-shell europium(III)-silica nanoparticles

Luminescent core-shell europium(III)-silica nanoparticles were prepared using europium(III) chelate core structure and polyvinylpyrrolidone synthesis strategy for silica shell. Europium(III):naphtoyltrifluoroacetone:trioctylphosphineoxide complex was spontaneously agglomerated from organic solvent to water. Polyvinylpyrrolidone was adsorbed onto the core structure and stable silica shell was synthesized using tetraethylorthosilicate. Nanosized particles with a diameter of 71 ± 5 nm and 11 nm shell thickness were obtained with fluorescence decay rate of 517 μs and excitation and emission wavelengths of 334 and 614 nm, respectively.     

Effects of particle size and laser wavelength on heating of silver nanoparticles under laser irradiation in liquid

Laser energy absorption results in significant heating of metallic nanoparticles and controlling the heating of nanoparticles is one of the essential stages of selective cell targeting. It is necessary to note that the laser action should be done by laser pulses with a wavelength that is strongly absorbed by the particles and it is important to select wavelengths that are not absorbed by the medium. Laser pulse duration must be chosen sufficiently short to minimize heat flow emitted from absorbing particles. Numerical calculations based on Mie theory were used to obtain the effect of laser wavelength and particle size on absorption factor for colloidal silver nanoparticles with radii between 5 and 50 nm. Calculations for acquiring temperatures under irradiations of pulsed KrF laser and pulsed Nd:YAG laser were performed. We showed that for low wavelengths of the laser, smaller nanoparticles have larger absorption efficiency compared to larger nanoparticles and in high wavelengths, temperature of all particles increased in the same way.     

Gold nanoparticles: enhanced optical trapping and sensitivity coupled with significant heating

Gold nanoparticles appear to be superior handles in optical trapping assays. We demonstrate that relatively large gold particles (R(b)=50 nm) indeed yield a sixfold enhancement in trapping efficiency and detection sensitivity as compared to similar-sized polystyrene particles. However, optical absorption by gold at the most common trapping wavelength (1064 nm) induces dramatic heating (266 degrees C/W). We determined this heating by comparing trap stiffness from three different methods in conjunction with detailed modeling. Due to this heating, gold nanoparticles are not useful for temperature-sensitive optical-trapping experiments, but may serve as local molecular heaters. Also, such particles, with their increased detection sensitivity, make excellent probes for certain zero-force biophysical assays.     

水溶性CdTe量子点的稳态和纳秒时间分辨光致发光光谱

报道了以飞秒脉冲激光为激发光源的水溶性CdTe量子点(QDs)的稳态荧光光谱和纳秒时间分辨荧光光谱.实验发现CdTe量子点的荧光光谱峰值位置随激发波长变化发生明显移动，激发脉冲波长越长，荧光峰位红移越大.荧光动力学实验数据显示，在400nm和800nm脉冲激光激发下，水溶性CdTe量子点的荧光光谱中均含有激子态和诱捕态两个衰减成分，两者的发射峰相距很近，诱捕态的发射峰波长较长.在800nm脉冲激光激发下的诱捕态成分占总荧光强度的比重比400nm激发下的约高3倍，其相对强度的这种变化导致了稳态荧光发射峰位的红移. 关键词： CdTe 量子点 时间分辨 荧光光谱 上转换荧光     

Upconversion luminescent characteristics and peak shift of CdSeS nanocrystals under different wavelength laser excitation

Upconversion luminescence was obtained from CdSeS nanocrystals (NCs) under 800 nm femtosecond laser excitation. The structural and optical characteristics of the CdSeS NCs were investigated experimentally by use of UV–visible absorption spectroscopy, transmission electron microscopy, X-ray diffractometry, and time-resolved luminescence dynamics. Peak shift of luminescence in CdSeS NCs can be readily observed under different wavelength femtosecond excitation. The pump power dependence of the luminescence intensity and time-resolved decay revealed that one, two, and three-photon absorption occur. It was found that upconversion luminescence is composed of photoinduced trapping and a band-edge excitonic state, and two types of species are involved in the biexponential luminescence decay kinetics. With increasing Se-doped composition, luminescence lifetimes of CdSeS NCs with similar sizes become shorter. This is not consistent with the changes of undoped CdS NCs and is ascribed to impurity level increased doping in the energy gap, which is favorable for trapping luminescence. A simple energy level of doping NCs is used to interpret upconversion luminescence and the peak shift of steady-state emission.     

Silver nanoparticles produced by PLD in vacuum: role of the laser wavelength used

In this work we report the results of investigation of silver (Ag) nanoparticles prepared on a silica substrate by laser ablation. Our attention was focused on the mean diameter, size distribution and optical absorption properties of nanoparticles prepared in vacuum by using different laser wavelengths. The fundamental wavelength and the second, third, and fourth harmonics of a nanosecond Nd:YAG laser were used for nanoparticles fabrication. The corresponding values of the laser fluence for each wavelength were: 0.6 J/cm² at 266 nm, 0.8 J/cm² at 355 nm, 2.8 J/cm² at 532 nm, and 2 J/cm² at 1064 nm. The Ag nanoparticles produced have mean diameters in the range from 2 nm to 12 nm as the nanoparticles’ size decreases with the decrease of the wavelength used. The presence of the Ag nanoparticles was also evidenced by the appearance of a strong optical absorption band in the measured UV-VIS spectra associated with surface plasmon resonance (SPR). A redshift and widening of the absorption peak were observed as the laser wavelength was increased. Some additional investigations were performed in order to clarify the structure of the Ag nanoparticles.     

水溶性金单层包覆团簇的制备与光学性能分析

 采用硼氢化钠在水溶液中还原氯金酸,并以水溶性硫醇巯基丁二酸在生成的金核表面包覆单分子层的方法,制备了单层包覆金团簇（MPC）。傅里叶变换红外光谱仪结果表明,巯基丁二酸与金形成了Au－S键,并得到了Auz^x(SR)^y形式的MPC。TEM照片显示,当Au和S的物质的量的比为1∶3时,金MPC的核尺寸约为2 nm。探讨了制得的金MPC的紫外-可见吸收特性及荧光特性,发现金MPC水溶液在520 nm附近无紫外吸收现象,而在451及480 nm波长紫外光激发下,可在796 nm附近观察到明显的荧光现象。反映表面等离子基元共振的520 nm附近吸收峰的消失是量子尺寸效应作用的结果。荧光现象与金MPC表面全充满的5d10和6(sp)1导带间的带间跃迁有关。     

Surface‐enhanced Raman scattering and fluorescence emission of gold nanoparticle–multiwalled carbon nanotube hybrids

Multiwalled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) are grafted with gold (Au) nanoparticles of different sizes (1–12 and 1–20 nm) to form Au–MWCNT hybrids. The Au nanoparticles pile up at defect sites on the edges of MWCNTs in the form of chains. The micro‐Raman scattering studies of these hybrids were carried using visible to infrared wavelengths (514.5 and 1064 nm). Enhanced Raman scattering and fluorescence is observed at an excitation wavelength of 514.5 nm. It is found that the graphitic (G) mode intensity enhances by 10 times and down shifts by approximately 3 cm⁻¹ for Au–MWCNT hybrids in comparison with pristine carbon nanotubes. This enhancement in G mode due to surface‐enhanced Raman scattering effect is related to the interaction of MWCNTs with Au nanoparticles. The enhancement in Raman scattering and fluorescence for large size nanoparticles for Au–MWCNTs hybrids is corroborated with localized surface plasmon polaritons. The peak position of localized surface plasmons of Au nanoparticles shifts with the change in environment. Further, no enhancement in G mode was observed at an excitation wavelength of 1064 nm. However, the defect mode (D) mode intensity enhances, and peak position is shifted by approximately 40 cm⁻¹ to lower side at the same wavelength. The enhanced intensity of D mode at 1064 nm excitation wavelength is related to the double resonance phenomenon and shift in the particular mode occurs due to more electron phonon interactions near Fermi level. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.