Coassembly of Gold Nanoparticles and Cellulose Nanocrystals in Composite Films

Abstract

Coassembly of nanoparticles with different size-, shape-, and composition-dependent properties is a promising approach to the design and fabrication of functional materials and devices. This paper reports the results of a detailed investigation of the formation and properties of free-stranding composite films formed by the coassembly of cellulose nanocrystals and shape-isotropic plasmonic gold nanoparticles. The effect of gold nanoparticle size, surface charge, and concentration on the structural and optical properties of the composite films has been studied. The composite films retained photonic crystal and chiroptical activity properties. The size and surface charge of gold nanoparticles had a minor effect on the structure and properties of the composite films, while the concentration of gold nanoparticles in the composite material played a more significant role and can be used to fine-tune the optical properties of materials derived from cellulose nanocrystals. These findings significantly broaden the range of nanoparticles that can be used for producing nanocomposite materials based on cellulose nanocrystals. The simplicity of film preparation, the abundance of cellulose nanocrystals, and the robust, free-standing nature of the composite films offer highly advantageous features and pave the way for the generation of functional materials with coupled optical properties.

The Self‐Assembly of Cellulose Nanocrystals: Hierarchical Design of Visual Appearance

“…This has been demonstrated with zwitterionic surfactants, neutral or anionic polymers, amino resins or sol–gel precursors, and crosslinked latex nanoparticles . The cholesteric arrangement of CNCs can also accommodate small nanoparticles without disruption of the phase, e.g., plasmonic gold nanorods, allowing complex chiroptical effects …”

Physicochemical Study of the Interaction between Gold Nanoparticles and Lipase from Candida sp. (CALB): Insights into the Nano-Bio Interface

“…The calculation of AuNPs was determined according to a previously described methodology. 54 Firstly, the volume of one nanoparticle was determined by the definition V = 4 / 3πR 3 using the radius (R) of AuNPs previously determined by TEM. Then, by using the density of gold (19300 kg m -3 ), Avogadro's number (6.022 × 10 23 particles) and the concentration (in mg L -1 ) determined by ICP OES measurements, the molar concentration of AuNPs dispersion was obtained.…”

Synthesis and Plasmonic Chiroptical Studies of Sodium Deoxycholate Modified Silver Nanoparticles

“…Chiral templates such as DNA helical nanostructures [12,13,14,15] and chiral supramolecular assemblies [16,17,18] are widely utilized to prepare plasmonic noble metal NPs with chiroptical response in the visible region. Another choice for the fabrication of chiral noble metal NPs is to use low-molecular-mass chiral thiols, including cysteine, glutathione and penicillamine as chiral inducers.…”