Degradation of polypropylene carbonate through plasmonic heating

Abstract

We report the thermal degradation of a solid film of polypropylene carbonate, driven by the photothermal effect of gold nanoparticles. We provide characterization of the products of this chemical reaction and use the known activation barrier for this chemical reaction to discuss the temperatures obtained in the film. In addition, we report the efficiency of the reaction as a function of nanoparticle concentration and find nanoparticles to be significantly more effective than an organic dye at driving this reaction.

Fe3O4 nanoparticles as robust photothermal agents for driving high barrier reactions under ambient conditions

“…1d). This lack of saturation threshold is the same as observed for gold nanoparticles, 4 and reflects the strongly absorbing nature of the MNP. Fig.…”

“…1e), in which films with MNPs mass fractions ranging from 9.1 Â 10 À2 to 4.0 Â 10 À3 were exposed to 7000 pulses (25 MW cm À2 ). 4 Considering the observed extent of decomposition of PPC, we can estimate the temperature reached by the particles is at least 770 K. This estimate is obtained by using the Arrhenius equation to calculate the uniform temperature of the film (see ESI † for details) required to generate our observed extent of unimolecular decomposition of PPC within the time occupied by 7000 pulses of light (56 ms). No matter the laser irradiance used, the observed mass loss in films without MNPs did not exceed 3%.…”

“…S2 and S3 †), AuNPs are susceptible to changes under irradiation such as aggregation, fragmentation, and melting. 4,23 In addition to geometric stability, crystalline stability is also critical to consider. Thus, the major perceived advantage of using the photothermal effect of nanoparticles -the fine control over local heat -is lost for AuNPs at higher irradiances.…”

Billion-fold rate enhancement of urethane polymerization via the photothermal effect of plasmonic gold nanoparticles

“…Fourth, given reasonable estimations for the enthalpic (–132 kJ mol –1 ) and entropic (–188 J mol –1 ) changes associated with urethane formation, 30 the equilibrium for this reaction should lie far to the reactants at the extreme temperatures (>800 K) known to be obtained under our photothermal conditions ( K 800 K ≈ 7 × 10 –2 M –1 ). 4 Thus, significant progress of the reaction can also only be ascribed to trapping of transiently formed products during thermal quenching – rather than simple biasing of the equilibrium at high temperatures. Finally, urethanes are widely employed in science and technology and the work described below provides the basis for on-demand thermal curing of urethane polymer films, which will extend the physical and chemical properties available for on-demand applications ( e.g.…”

Surface modification of carbon black nanoparticles enhances photothermal separation and release of CO2

“…Nanoparticle mediated photothermal phase transitions and chemical reactions have the potential to improve many fields of energy harvesting [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12]. The efficiency of a nanoparticle photothermal process in a liquid medium requires surface interactions between particle and solution, however these interactions have received little study.…”