Synthesis of tubular gold and silver nanoshells using silica nanowire core templates

We report the synthesis of tubular gold and silver nanoshells on silica nanowire core templates in solution. Silica nanowires were synthesized and characterized with optical and NMR methods. Gold nanoparticle seeds (2 to 3 nm) with weak repulsive surfactants such as tetrakis-hydroxymethyl-phosphonium chloride (THPC) were conjugated to the surface of these nanowires. A regrowth process was initiated from these nanoparticles on the surface of the silica nanowires dispersed in gold or silver stock solutions in the presence of reducing agents. Micrometers-long gold and silver tubular nanoshells (80-150 nm o.d.) were made, fully covering the silica nanowires.     

Synthesis and plasmonic properties of silver and gold nanoshells on polystyrene cores of different size and of gold–silver core–shell nanostructures

Simple methods of preparing silver and gold nanoshells on the surfaces of monodispersed polystyrene microspheres of different sizes as well as of silver nanoshells on free-standing gold nanoparticles are presented. The plasmon resonance absorption spectra of these materials are presented and compared to predictions of extended Mie scattering theory. Both silver and gold nanoshells were grown on polystyrene microspheres with diameters ranging from 188 to 543 nm. The commercially available, initially carboxylate-terminated polystyrene spheres were reacted with 2-aminoethanethiol hydrochloride (AET) to yield thiol-terminated microspheres to which gold nanoparticles were then attached. Reduction of silver nitrate or gold hydroxide onto these gold-decorated microspheres resulted in increasing coverage of silver or gold on the polystyrene core. The nanoshells were characterized using transmission electron microscopy (TEM), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and UV–vis spectroscopy. By varying the core size of the polystyrene particles and the amount of metal (silver or gold) reduced onto them, the surface plasmon resonance of the nanoshell could be tuned across the visible and the near-infrared regions of the electromagnetic spectrum. Necklace-like chain aggregate structures of gold core–silver shell nanoparticles were formed by reducing silver nitrate onto free citrate-gold nanoparticles. The plasmon resonance absorption of these nanoparticles could also be systematically tuned across the visible spectrum.     

Synthesis, characterization and optical properties of silver and gold nanowires embedded in mesoporous MCM-41

Uniform nanowires of silver and gold inside the channels of MCM-41 were prepared by controlled reduction of their respective metal salts with sodium borohydride (NaBH₄). Presence of nanowires of silver and gold in MCM-41 were confirmed by high angle X-ray diffraction (XRD) data (peaks between 2ϑ = 30 − 60°) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) confirmed the diameter of the nanowires. Diameter of nanowires is found to be ∼ 2.8 nm which is coincident with channel diameter of MCM-41. Optical properties of these heterostructured materials Ag-MCM-41 and Au-MCM-41 reveals the presence of surface plasmon absorption peaks of silver and gold respectively, and the shift in the absorption bands are associated to agglomeration of clusters inside the channels. Room temperature photoluminescence spectra exhibits interesting optical properties as observed for direct band gap semiconductors. Non-linear optical properties (NLO) corresponding to second harmonic generation (SHG) values were also recorded for self supported films of these heterostructured materials. Enhanced optical non-linearity was found to be arising from a corresponding increase of local field near the surface plasmon resonance. Further enhancement in SHG was found with poling due to an induction of orientation order.     

Preparation and optical properties of worm-like gold nanorods

A type of worm-like nanorods was successfully synthesized through conventional gold nanorods reacting with Na2S2O3 or Na2S. The generated worm-like gold nanorods comprise shrunk nanorod cores and enwrapped shells. Therefore, a gold-gold sulfide core-shell structure is formed in the process, distinguishing from their original counterparts. The formation of the gold chalcogenide layers was confirmed by transmission electron microscopy and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. Experimental results showed that the thickness of the gold chalcogenide layers is controllable. Since the increase of shell thickness and decrease of gold nanorod core take place simultaneously, it allows one to tune the plasmon resonance of nanorods. Proper adjustment of reaction time, temperature, additives and other experimental conditions will produce worm-like gold nanorods demonstrating desired longitudinal plasmon wavelength (LPW) with narrow size distributions, only limited by properties of starting original gold nanorods. The approach presented herein is capable of selectively changing LPW of the gold nanorods. Additionally, the formed worm-like nanorods possess higher sensitive property in localized surface plasmon resonance than the original nanorods. Their special properties were characterized by spectroscopic methods such as Vis-NIR, fluorescence and resonance light scattering. These features imply that the gold nanorods have potential applications in biomolecular recognition study and biosensor fabrications.     

Synthesis, characterization, and tunable optical properties of hollow gold nanospheres

Nearly monodisperse hollow gold nanospheres (HGNs) with tunable interior and exterior diameters have been synthesized by sacrificial galvanic replacement of cobalt nanoparticles. It is possible to tune the peak of the surface plasmon band absorption between 550 and 820 nm by carefully controlling particle size and wall thickness. Cobalt particle size is tunable by simultaneously changing the concentration of sodium borohydride and sodium citrate, the reducing and capping agent, respectively. The thickness of the gold shell can be varied by carefully controlling the addition of gold salt. With successful demonstration of ensemble as well as single HGN surface-enhanced Raman scattering, these HGNs have shown great potential for chemical and biological sensing applications, especially those requiring nanostructures with near-IR absorption.     

Preparation, structure, and optical properties of nanoporous gold thin films

Thin nanoporous gold (np-Au) films, ranging in thickness from approximately 40 to 1600 nm, have been prepared by selective chemical etching of Ag from Ag/Au alloy films supported on planar substrates. A combination of scanning electron microscopy (SEM) imaging, synchrotron grazing incidence small angle X-ray scattering, and N2 adsorption surface area measurements shows the films to exhibit a porous structure with intertwined gold fibrils exhibiting a spectrum of feature sizes and spacings ranging from several to hundreds of nanometers. Spectroscopic ellipsometry measurements (300-800 nm) reveal the onset of surface plasmon types of features with increase of film thicknesses into the approximately 200 nm film thickness range. Raman scattering measurements for films functionalized with a self-assembled monolayer formed from 4-fluorobenzenethiol show significant enhancements which vary sharply with film thickness and etching times. The maximum enhancement factors reach approximately 10(4) for 632.8 nm excitation, peak sharply in the approximately 200 nm thickness range for films prepared at optimum etching times, and show high spot to spot reproducibility with approximately 1 microm laser spot sizes, an indication that these films could be useful as durable, highly reproducible surface-enhanced Raman substrates.     

Preparation and properties of silica–gold core–shell particles

Silica-metal core–shell particles, as for instance those having siliceous core and nanostructured gold shell, attracted a lot of attention because of their unique properties resulting from combination of mechanical and thermal stability of silica and magnetic, electric, optical and catalytic properties of metal nanocrystals such as gold, silver, platinum and palladium. Often, the shell of the core–shell particles consists of a large number of metal nanoparticles deposited on the surface of relatively large silica particles, which is the case considered in this work. Namely, silica particles having size of about 600 nm were subjected to surface modification with 3-aminopropyltrimethoxysilane. This modification altered the surface properties of silica particles, which was demonstrated by low pressure nitrogen adsorption at ?196 °C. Next, gold nanoparticles were deposited on the surface of aminopropyl-modified silica particles using two strategies: (i) direct deposition of gold nanoparticles having size of about 10 nm, and (ii) formation of gold nanoparticles by adsorption of tetrachloroauric acid on aminopropyl groups followed by its reduction with formaldehyde.The overall morphology of silica–gold particles and the distribution of gold nanoparticles on the surface of modified silica colloids were characterized by scanning electron microscopy. It was shown that direct deposition of colloidal gold on the surface of large silica particles gives more regular distribution of gold nanopartciles than that obtained by reduction of tetrachloroauric acid. In the latter case the gold layer consists of larger nanoparticles (size of about 50 nm) and is less regular. Note that both deposition strategies afforded silica–gold particles having siliceous cores covered with shells consisting of gold nanoparticles of tunable concentration.     

Hematite spindles with optical functionalities: growth of gold nanoshells and assembly of gold nanorods

The layer-by-layer (LBL) assembly method, combined with the seeded growth technique, have been used to deposit gold shells on the surface of hematite (alpha-Fe(2)O(3)) spindles. While the LBL method yields dense coatings of preformed Au nanoparticles, when AuCl(-)(4) ions are further reduced by a mild reducing agent, thicker, rough nanostructured shells can be grown. The deposition process was monitored by TEM and UV-visible spectroscopy, demonstrating a gradual change in the optical features of the colloids as the surface is more densely covered. The particles so-prepared can find useful applications in cancer therapy and as SERS substrates. Additionally, we show that Au nanorods can be assembled on hematite spindles, providing a flexible way to tune the optical properties of the resulting composite colloids.     

Preparation and optical properties of silver nanowires and silver-nanowire thin films

Silver nanowires and silver-nanowire thin films have attracted much attention due to their extensive applications in Surface-Enhanced Raman Scattering (SERS) and Surface-Enhanced Fluorescence (SEF). Thin films of silver nanowires within polyelectrolyte layers of poly(allylamine hydrochloride) (PAH) and poly(sodium 4-styrenesulfonate) (PSS) were fabricated by the Spin-Assisted Layer-by-Layer (SA-LbL) method. The surface coverage, thickness, and absorbance properties of the silver-nanowire films were controlled by the number of layers deposited. Both transverse and longitudinal surface plasmon (SP) modes of the silver-nanowires were observed in the absorbance spectra, as was evidence for nanowire interaction. Two-dimensional finite difference time-domain (2D FDTD) simulations predict that the maximum field enhancement occurs at the ends and cross-sectional edges of the wires for the longitudinal and transverse modes, respectively. Silver nanowires were synthesized by a facile, high-yield solvothermal approach, which can be easily manipulated to control the aspect ratio of the nanowires. The effects of polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP) concentration and molecular weight on the growth of the silver nanowires, which are not documented in the original procedure, are discussed. It is shown that the growth mechanism for silver nanowires in the solvothermal synthesis is similar to that reported for the polyol synthesis.     

Radiation-induced synthesis and cryo-TEM characterization of silver nanoshells on linoleate spherical micelles

We combine the self-assembly properties of amphiphilic molecules with the radiolysis method to produce specific sizes and shapes of metallic nano-objects. Radiolysis is used to synthesize core--shell structures consisting of nanometric linoleate spherical micelles as the core and silver as the shell. The validity of the technique is asserted by cryoelectron microscopy, which is an adequate technique for low density contrasts and core--shell structures. The shells are found to be homogeneous with a size of a few nanometers. Images are used to bring forward the hypothesis of the fabrication process.     

Tailored core-shell-shell nanostructures: sandwiching gold nanoparticles between silica cores and tunable silica shells

Size tunable and structure tailored core-shell-shell nanospheres containing silica cores, gold nanoparticle shells, and controlled thicknesses of smooth, corrugated, or porous silica shells over the gold nanoparticles have been synthesized. The synthesis involved the deposition of gold nanoparticles on silica cores, followed by sol-gel processing of tetraethoxysilane (TEOS) or sodium silicate to form dense or porous silica shells, respectively, over the gold nanoparticles. The structures and sizes of the resulting core-shell-shell nanospheres were found to heavily depend on the sizes of the core nanoparticles, the relative population of the gold nanoparticles on each core, and the concentration of TEOS. While a higher TEOS concentration resulted in thicker and more uniform silica shells around individual larger silica cores (approximately > or =250 nm in diameter), the same TEOS concentration resulted in aggregated and twin core-shell-shell nanostructures for smaller silica cores (approximately < or =110 nm in diameter). The thinner silica shells were synthesized by using a lower TEOS concentration. By using sodium silicate (Ung et al. J. Phys. Chem. B 1999, 103, 6770), the porous silica shells were synthesized. Controlled chemical etching of the core-shell-shell nanoparticles with an aqueous KCN solution resulted in corrugated silica shells around the gold nanoparticles or corrugated silica nanospheres with few or no gold nanoparticles. This has allowed synthesis of new types of core-shell-shell nanoparticles with tailored corrugated shells. The nanoporous silica shells provided accessible structures to the embedded metal nanoparticles as observed from the electrochemical response of the gold nanoparticles.     

Preparation and optical properties of silica@Ag-Cu alloy core-shell composite colloids

The silica@Ag-Cu alloy core-shell composite colloids have been successfully synthesized by an electroless plating approach to explore the possibility of modifying the plasmon resonance at the nanoshell surface by varying the metal nanoshell composition for the first time. The surface plasmon resonance of the composite colloids increases in intensity and shifts towards longer, then shorter wavelengths as the Cu/Ag ratio in the alloy shell is increased. The variations in intensity of the surface plasmon resonance with the Cu/Ag ratio obviously affect the Raman bands of the silica colloid core. The report here may supply a new technique to effectively modify the surface plasmon resonance.     

Synthesis, characterization, thermal and optical properties of styrene derivatives having pendant p-substituted benzylic ether groups

The derivatives of styrene monomer, 4-chlorophenyl-4-vinylbenzyl ether (M1), 4-methoxyphenyl-4-vinylbenzyl ether (M2), 4-ethylphenyl-4-vinylbenzyl ether (M3) and 1-naphtylphenyl-4-vinylbenzyl ether (M4) were synthesized. The normal free radical polymerization of monomers in 1,4-dioxane were performed by using 2,2′-azobisisobutyronitrile as an initiator at 65 °C. The monomers and their homopolymers were characterized by FT-IR, NMR and elemental analyses measurements. The thermal stability of polymers was investigated by thermogravimetric and differential scanning calorimetric analysis. Thermal degradation activation energies of the polymers were calculated by the Ozawa and Kissinger methods. In addition, photo-stability tests of the polymers under near-UV irradiation were performed.     

Stability of suspended gold and silver alloy monatomic chains

Using the first-principles plane wave pseudopotential method, we have studied the structures and stability of gold and silver alloy monatomic chains. It is found that minimizing system's enthalpy instead of its energy is critical to identify the stability of stretched alloy chains at zero temperature since the string tension can efficiently suppress the self-purification. Our simulations show that all the gold-containing chains do exhibit a local enthalpy minimum, giving a reasonable interpretation for the experimental observations of gold and silver alloy chains with different Ag concentrations [Bettini et al., Nat. Nanotechnol. 1, 182 (2006)]. These alloy chains are stabilized by the combined actions of the gold's relativistic effect and the string tension applied by the tip contacts, having similar geometrical structures to those of the pure gold chains.     

Synthesis, characterization, and optical properties of well-defined N-doped, hollow silica/titania hybrid microspheres

Well-defined nitrogen-doped, hollow SiO2/TiO2 hybrid spheres were successfully prepared through a two-step sol-gel synthesis combined calcination process using triethylamine as the nitrogen source. In this approach, polystyrene (PS)/silica microspheres were first synthesized. Subsequently, the amine-treated PS/SiO2/TiO2 hybrid spheres were obtained by sol-gel method. Finally, the elimination of the PS core, nitrogen-doping process, and crystallization of amorphous TiO2 were simultaneously conducted in the calcination process to acquire the final products. The as-prepared hybrid spheres were characterized by scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction (XRD), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), and Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy. The results of XRD, FTIR, and XPS spectra indicated that nitrogen was really doped into the anatase TiO2 shell and confirmed that most nitrogen dopants might be present in the chemical environments of N-Ti-O and Ti-N-O. It was found that the absorption shoulder of nitrogen-doped hollow SiO2/TiO2 hybrid spheres vastly shifted to the visible region up to around 530 nm. The photoluminescence (PL) bands showed spectral lines at about 421, 472, and 529 nm, which were attributed to the self-trapped excitons, F and F+ centers. Moreover, the intensity of the PL spectra band of hollow SiO2/TiO2 hybrid spheres increased with as the amount of titanium tetrabutoxide (TBOT) precursor increased. However, the doping of nitrogen into hollow SiO2/TiO2 hybrid spheres led to the drastic quenching of photoluminescence because of the increase in the separation efficiency of the photoinduced electron and hole pairs.     

Seed-mediated growth of large,monodisperse core-shell gold-silver nanoparticles with Ag-like optical properties

Large, monodisperse core-shell Au-Ag nanoparticles with Ag-like optical properties have been prepared by the seeding growth method in micellar media.     

Structural studies of lanthanide ion complexes of pure gold, pure silver and mixed metal (gold-silver) dicyanides

Crystal structures of four lanthanide complexes of La[Au(CN)2](3).3H2O, La[Ag(CN)2](3).3H2O, La[Ag(0.83)Au(0.17)(CN)2](3).3H2O, and La[Ag(0.39)Au(0.61)(CN)2](3).3H2O are reported. Studies reveal that all the structures reported are isostructural. All systems were found to be in the hexagonal crystal system, space group P6(3)/mcm. The metal-metal distance for the pure gold system is 3.332 (1) A versus 3.359(1) A for the pure silver system. The mixed-metal systems have shown no distinct differences in the location of the metal atoms, with the La[Ag(0.83)Au(0.17)(CN)2](3).3H2O complex having a metal-metal Ag-Au separation of 3.346(1) A, and 3.344(1) A for the La[Ag(0.39)Au(0.61)(CN)2](3).3H2O complex. The crystal structures of the pure and mixed La complexes have been solved to provide evidence of Ag-Au heterometallic interactions and as a basis for understanding the interesting optical properties of the systems.     

Thermo-optical properties of silver and gold nanofluids

This work focuses on the study of thermal diffusivity and physical properties of nanofluids with very low concentrations of silver or gold nanoparticles. Thermal measurements were performed by means of thermal lens spectroscopy in the dual beam configuration. Improvements of 20 and 16 % in the thermal diffusivity were observed for silver and gold nanofluids, respectively, in comparison with pure water. The estimation of the size distribution of the metallic nanoparticles was obtained through the fitting of the extinction spectra via Mie theory and images of field emission gun scanning electron microscopy.     

Preparation and optical properties of composite materials based on polybenzimidazole and silver nanoparticles

Rigid-chain heat resistant polymers (with poly-2,2'-p-oxydiphenylene-5,5′-bisbenzimidazole as example) were impregnated for the first time with a silver-containing precursor in formic acid and in supercritical carbon dioxide. A procedure allowing the precursor reduction to silver nanoparticles both throughout the volume by thermal annealing of the films in the temperature interval 100–150°С and in the targeted mode using lasers operating at 405 and 532 nm was developed. It opens prospects for developing a process for production of heatresistant optical gratings and light guides. The reduces nanoparticles and their agglomerates have the size in the interval 50–200 nm and give a plasmon band in the range 450–460 nm.