Effect of Gold Nanoparticles on the Crystallization and Optical Properties of Glass in ZnO-MgO-Al2O3-SiO2 System

Abstract

Gold nanoparticles precipitated in transparent glass-ceramics could pave the way for the development of multifunctional materials that are in demand in modern photonics and optics. In this work, we explored the effect of gold nanoparticles on the crystallization, microstructure, and optical properties of ZnO-MgO-Al2O3-SiO2 glass containing TiO2 and ZrO2 as nucleating agents. X-ray diffraction, transmission electron microscopy, Raman, and optical spectroscopy were used for the study. We showed that gold nanoparticles have no effect on the formation of gahnite nanocrystals during the glass heat treatments, while optical properties of the glass-ceramics are strongly dependent on the gold addition. A computational model was developed to predict optical properties of glass during the crystallization, and the possibility for adjusting the localized surface plasmon resonance band position with the heat treatment temperature was shown.

Influence of Gold Nano Particles on Dielectric Features A.C. Conductivity and Dielectric Breakdown Strength of PbO-B2O3-SeO2:Ho2O3 Glass Ceramics

“…14 As a result, the dielectric characteristics of the materials get influenced largely. Even though, a considerable number of studies on the influence of Au 2 O 3 on optical properties of several glass and glass ceramic systems were investigated [15][16][17] as such the studies on dielectric characteristics on these glasses are very limited.…”

Ultra-broadband Plasmon Resonance in Gold Nanoparticles Precipitated in ZnO-Al2O3-SiO2 Glass

“…At the same time, the position of the LSPR band maximum in these NPs was tuned in the range up to 600 nm by varying the content of oxides with high refractive index, thus changing the average value of the refractive index of the medium around NPs [41,42]. Moreover, based on this effect, in our previous works [43,44] we have shown the possibility of tuning the position of the maximum of the LSPR band of gold NPs in glasses of the ZnO-MgO-Al2O3-SiO2 system containing TiO2 and ZrO2 additives. During the heat treatment in glasses along with the growth of NPs, at first the processes of phase separation took place with the formation of amorphized zones enriched in TiO2 and ZrO2 (components with high refractive index), and with further increase in the temperature of treatment, ZnAl2O4 crystals were formed in glasses, while TiO2 and ZrO2 components were uniformly distributed in the matrix.…”

Ultra-Broadband Plasmon Resonance in Gold Nanoparticles Precipitated in ZnO-Al2O3-SiO2 Glass

“…At the same time, the position of the LSPR band maximum in these NPs was tuned in the range of up to 600 nm by varying the content of the oxides with high refractive indexes, thus changing the average value of the refractive index of the medium around NPs [40,41]. Moreover, based on this effect, in our previous works [42,43], we have shown the possibility for tuning the position of the maximum of the LSPR band of gold NPs in glasses of the ZnO-MgO-Al 2 O 3 -SiO 2 system containing TiO 2 and ZrO 2 additives. During heat treatment in glasses along with the growth of NPs, the processes of phase separation first took place with the formation of amorphized zones enriched in TiO 2 and ZrO 2 (components with high refractive index); with the further increase in the temperature of the treatment, ZnAl 2 O 4 crystals were formed in glasses, while TiO 2 and ZrO 2 components were uniformly distributed in the matrix.…”