Plasmonic Aerogel Doped with Gold Nanoparticles

Grogan, M. D. W.; Rollings, Mathew; Xiao, Limin; Wadsworth, William J.; England, R.; Maier, Stefan A.; Birks, T. A.

doi:10.1364/qels.2010.jthe21

Cited by 7 publications

(5 citation statements)

References 9 publications

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“…Silica aerogels were prepared by a conventional one-step base-catalyst sol–gel process (described in more detail elsewhere [ 2 ]) so as to obtain a hydrophilic surface, and they were dried in supercritical CO 2 . PSi NPs or Si NSs in colloidal suspension were introduced into the mixture before the gel formation stage in concentrations from zero to 0.34 mg/ml.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Porous silicon nanocrystals in a silica aerogel matrix

et al. 2012

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Silicon nanoparticles of three types (oxide-terminated silicon nanospheres, micron-sized hydrogen-terminated porous silicon grains and micron-size oxide-terminated porous silicon grains) were incorporated into silica aerogels at the gel preparation stage. Samples with a wide range of concentrations were prepared, resulting in aerogels that were translucent (but weakly coloured) through to completely opaque for visible light over sample thicknesses of several millimetres. The photoluminescence of these composite materials and of silica aerogel without silicon inclusions was studied in vacuum and in the presence of molecular oxygen in order to determine whether there is any evidence for non-radiative energy transfer from the silicon triplet exciton state to molecular oxygen adsorbed at the silicon surface. No sensitivity to oxygen was observed from the nanoparticles which had partially H-terminated surfaces before incorporation, and so we conclude that the silicon surface has become substantially oxidised. Finally, the FTIR and Raman scattering spectra of the composites were studied in order to establish the presence of crystalline silicon; by taking the ratio of intensities of the silicon and aerogel Raman bands, we were able to obtain a quantitative measure of the silicon nanoparticle concentration independent of the degree of optical attenuation.

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Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Porous silicon nanocrystals in a silica aerogel matrix

et al. 2012

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“…We measured the loss of similar aerogels supercritically dried after solvent exchange with liquid CO 2 [7]. Optical quality surfaces were made by casting the wet gel in PMMA cuvettes, then removing them before supercritical drying [4]. Figure 1 is a typical loss spectrum, dominated by Rayleigh scattering at visible wavelengths and various molecular resonances in the infrared.…”

Section: Aerogelmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The small scale of its structure (interconnected pores around 40 nm across between silica "strings" ~5 nm thick) makes the aerogel a transparent effective medium with some Rayleigh-like scattering [1] and an extraordinarily low refractive index of 1.01-1.08 [2], well outside the range attainable with any other solid materials. It has been reported to have a Kerr nonlinearity five orders of magnitude greater than that of solid silica [3], and it can be doped to provide gain, enhanced nonlinearity, plasmonic properties or a gas-permeable host for a volume distribution of nanoparticles [4].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Silica aerogel core waveguide

Grogan¹,

Leon-Saval²,

England³

et al. 2010

Opt. Express

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We have selectively filled the core of hollow photonic crystal fibre with silica aerogel. Light is guided in the aerogel core, with a measured attenuation of 0.2 dB/cm at 1540 nm comparable to that of bulk aerogel. The structure guides light by different mechanisms depending on the wavelength. At long wavelengths the effective index of the microstructured cladding is below the aerogel index of 1.045 and guidance is by total internal reflection. At short wavelengths, where the effective cladding index exceeds 1.045, a photonic bandgap can guide the light instead. There is a small region of crossover, where both index- and bandgap-guided modes were simultaneously observed.

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“…Their immobilization on carriers with large surface areas results in catalysts that can be recovered and re-used more easily, thus decreasing the production costs and saving valuable noble metal resources [22]. High porosity carrier materials like silica, zirconia, and titania are commonly used materials [23,24,25], and most recently, gold nanoparticles immobilized in silica aerogels were reported [26,27,28,29].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The immobilization of gold NPs in silica aerogel offers the advantage of ease of handling and removal, as well as protection from aggregation by the steric hindrance of particle movements. Such aerogels can be used in several fields, including plasmonic sensing and nonlinear optical experiments, optical fiber detection, and catalytic reactions [26,37].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Prevention of the Aggregation of Nanoparticles during the Synthesis of Nanogold-Containing Silica Aerogels

Lázár

Szabó

2018

Gels

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Nanogold is widely used in many areas of physics and chemistry due to its environment-sensitive plasmon resonance absorption. The immobilization of gold nanoparticles in highly porous silica aerogel offers an attractive alternative to liquid gold solutions as they show a mechanically stable structure, are permeable to gases, and can even be used at elevated temperatures. We have found that the commercially available citrate-stabilized 10 nm gold nanoparticles may suffer from aggregation prior to or under the base-catalyzed gelation process of tetramethoxy silane. In the wet gels, Au particles increased in size, changed shape, and demonstrated the loss of plasmon resonance absorption, due to the formation of larger aggregates. We have studied a range of water-miscible organic solvents, stabilizing agents, and the gelation conditions to minimize changes from occurring in the aerogel setting and the supercritical drying process. It has been found that atmospheric carbon dioxide has a significant effect on aggregation, and it cannot be entirely excluded under normal synthetic conditions. Methanol resulted in an increase in the particle size only, while dimethyl sulfoxide, dimethylformamide, and urea changed the shape of nanoparticles to rod-like shapes, and diols led to an increase in both size and shape. However, using the polymeric stabilizer poly(vinyl pyrrolidone) efficiently prevented the aggregation of the particles, even in the presence of high concentrations of carbon dioxide, and allowed the production of nanoAu containing silica aerogels in a single step, without the modification of technology.

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Plasmonic Aerogel Doped with Gold Nanoparticles

Abstract: We have developed a new technique to incorporate gold nanoparticles into silica aerogel without aggregation. Such a doped "plasmonic" aerogel can be used for nonlinear optical experiments and plasmonic sensing.

Cited by 7 publications

References 9 publications

Porous silicon nanocrystals in a silica aerogel matrix

Porous silicon nanocrystals in a silica aerogel matrix

Silica aerogel core waveguide

Prevention of the Aggregation of Nanoparticles during the Synthesis of Nanogold-Containing Silica Aerogels

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