In this dissertation, laser-induced and ligand-directed fabrication of morphology-controlled gold nanoshells and applications of those nanoshells are mainly discussed. Gold nanoshells exhibiting hollow and porous morphologies have been fabricated via ...
In this dissertation, laser-induced and ligand-directed fabrication of morphology-controlled gold nanoshells and applications of those nanoshells are mainly discussed. Gold nanoshells exhibiting hollow and porous morphologies have been fabricated via laser-induced fabrication. Nanosecond laser pulses have been employed to induce surface melting of gold nanoparticles. Also, crucial factors that affecting the photothermal structural modification of porous gold nanoshells have been investigated. The detailed effects of laser wavelengths and nanoparticle surface conditions, as well as laser fluences, in the structural modification of porous gold nanoshells induced by picosecond pulse irradiation. Furthermore, gold nanoshells having hollow, porous, and highly branched morphologies were fabricated via a seed-assembly-mediated strategy. Proper use of linking ligands and growth ligands made it possible to employ gold nanoparticle assemblies, which exhibit hollow and porous nanoshell morphologies, as seeds for anisotropic growth of gold. Brief overviews of Chapters 1-4 mentioned in this dissertation are given below.
Chapter 1 describes a general introduction of plasmonic nanomaterials. Localized surface plasmon resonances are markedly characteristic property of plasmonic nanomaterials. Brief principles of the unique properties of plasmonic nanomaterials are described. As well as the properties of plasmonic nanomaterials, the various synthetic strategies to fabricate plasmonic nanomaterials are described. Especially, the light-induced fabrication of plasmonic nanomaterials are described in detail. Also, optical properties and applications of gold nanoshells are described in Chapter 1.
Chapter 2 presents an employment of nanosecond laser pulses to fabricate gold nanoshells having hollow and porous morphologies. SiO2 has been utilized as a hard template inside and outside the gold nanoshells to induce welding among the gold nanoparticles that consisting the gold nanoshells without structural deformation, and subsequent etching of the SiO2 have yielded hollow and porous gold nanoshells. The hollow and porous gold nanoshells have exhibited high surface-enhanced Raman scattering efficiency for the detection of methylene blue due to their large surface area. This study suggests the new applicability of a nanosecond laser to produce gold nanostructures having unique morphologies.
Chapter 3 describes the effects of laser wavelengths and nanoparticle surface conditions on the photothermal structural modification of porous gold nanoshells via irradiation with picosecond laser pulses. The laser pulses have increased the temperature of gold nanospheres, which had been produced through the melting of irradiated porous gold nanoshells, as well as porous gold nanoshells. Because the gold nanospheres exhibit strong absorption at 532 nm, the drastic and melting of porous gold nanoshells occurred under 532 nm irradiation while gradual modification took place under 355 nm irradiation. A high polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP) concentration around the irradiated porous gold nanoshells lessened their structural and optical deformation. It is considered that the stronger binding of the surfactant to positively charged gold decreased the deformation. This study implies that the sophisticated control of irradiation factors can further expand potential applications of pulsed lasers in the preparation of plasmonic nanostructures.
Chapter 4 presents the preparation of gold nanoshells having highly branched, hollow, and porous morphologies via seed-assembly-mediated fabrication. SiO2 nanoparticles and PVP molecules have been used as hard templates and linking molecules, respectively. With the help of linking PVP molecules, gold seeds have maintained the assemblies even after removal of SiO2 nanocore templates. silver ions and L-3,4-dihydroxyphenylalanine (L-DOPA) molecules have been employed as shape-directing agents. The preferential adsorption of silver and L-DOPA have resulted in anisotropic growth of gold. The highly branched gold nanoshells have exhibited strong performances in catalysis and surface-enhanced Raman scattering applications. This study suggests the seed-assembly-mediated fabrication to produce plasmonic nanostructures having unique morphologies.