Low-cost plasmonic solar cells prepared by chemical spray pyrolysis

• Erki Kärber,
• Atanas Katerski,
• Ilona Oja Acik,
• Valdek Mikli,
• Arvo Mere,
• Ilmo Sildos and
• Malle Krunks

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2014, 5, 2398–2402, doi:10.3762/bjnano.5.249

• % increase (from 4.6 to 7.5 mA/cm2) of the short-circuit current density was observed when 2.5 mL of the precursor solution was deposited onto the rear side of the solar cell. Keywords: Au nanoparticles; chemical spray pyrolysis; extremely thin absorber; plasmon resonance; solar cell; Introduction The cost

• -NP agglomerates of up to 200 nm can also be found, thus a size distribution of the of Au-NP agglomerates is also present. An increase in the particle size is likely to cause a red shift of the corresponding plasmon resonance, whereas a wide size distribution of Au-NPs and agglomerates is likely to

• Au precursor solution (curve C), at least three separate bands emerge centered at around 650, 710 and 850 nm. Thus, the increase in the EQE in the red/infrared region (Figure 3) is likely due to the gain in optical absorptance induced by the surface plasmon resonance effect. For this effect to occur

Inorganic Janus particles for biomedical applications

• Isabel Schick,
• Steffen Lorenz,
• Dominik Gehrig,
• Stefan Tenzer,
• Wiebke Storck,
• Karl Fischer,
• Dennis Strand,
• Frédéric Laquai and
• Wolfgang Tremel

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2014, 5, 2346–2362, doi:10.3762/bjnano.5.244

• conjugation to Ag nanoparticles when combined to form Ag@Fe3O4 dumbbell-like hetero-nanoparticles [47]. Moreover, plasmonic photocatalysts combine two prominent features: a Schottky junction enhancing charge separation and surface plasmon resonance, which is responsible for strong absorption of visible light

• the domain sizes of Au@MnO heterodimer nanoparticles in comparison to spherical Au nanoparticles. The shift of the absorption maximum amounts to 30 to 60 nm depending on the ratio of the domain sizes of Au and MnO. Mie’s theory describes the direct dependence of the surface plasmon resonance from the

• interaction at the nano-interface as shown for the exceptionally large T2-relaxation times of Co@Fe2O3 as compared to commonly available iron based MRI agents [59]. The most common metal nanoparticles for optical imaging with a long history are gold nanoparticles owing to their strong surface plasmon

Localized surface plasmon resonances in nanostructures to enhance nonlinear vibrational spectroscopies: towards an astonishing molecular sensitivity

• Dan Lis and
• Francesca Cecchet

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2014, 5, 2275–2292, doi:10.3762/bjnano.5.237

• (CARS); nonlinear optical spectroscopies; sum-frequency generation (SFG); surfaces plasmon resonance; vibrational spectroscopies; Review 1. Introduction – linear vibrational spectroscopies A widespread approach in molecular analysis relies on the vibrational fingerprint of matter to obtain an intrinsic

• of up to 1012 [7]. This is possible thanks to the strong electromagnetic (EM) field amplification achieved with surface plasmon resonances, especially when the field is confined in nanometric metallic structures under the form of a localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR) [8][9][10][11][12][13][14

• IR or spontaneous Raman spectroscopies. To push forward the performance of both techniques, the coupling of the molecular coherence and power-law intensity dependence with the near-field enhancement from surface plasmon resonance has been initiated, and some demonstrations of an extreme sensitivity

Hybrid spin-crossover nanostructures

• Carlos M. Quintero,
• Gautier Félix,
• Iurii Suleimanov,
• José Sánchez Costa,
• Gábor Molnár,
• Lionel Salmon,
• William Nicolazzi and
• Azzedine Bousseksou

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2014, 5, 2230–2239, doi:10.3762/bjnano.5.232

• . Furthermore, the spin-state switching behavior was also observed due to plasmonic heating. Such devices that display synergy between plasmon resonance and molecular spin states may be of great interest for implementing detection or self-regulation strategies on-chip for the photothermal effect or, with an

• diagram for an analog device but employing NR as the emitting material [30]. Adapted with permission from [28] and [30], copyright 2008 and 2013 Elsevier. a) SEM image of a gold nanorod array with 200 nm pitch. b) Extinction spectra of three nanorod arrays with different aspect ratios. c) Plasmon

• resonance shift associated with the spin crossover of a 60 nm thin film deposited onto the nano-dot array displayed in a) as a function of temperature. Adapted with permission from [34], copyright 2013 The Royal Society of Chemistry. a) Schematic view of the molecular memory proposed by Zhang et al. At low

Properties of plasmonic arrays produced by pulsed-laser nanostructuring of thin Au films

• Katarzyna Grochowska,
• Katarzyna Siuzdak,
• Peter A. Atanasov,
• Carla Bittencourt,
• Anna Dikovska,
• Nikolay N. Nedyalkov and
• Gerard Śliwiński

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2014, 5, 2102–2112, doi:10.3762/bjnano.5.219

• characterized by a short-distance order (length scale ≈140 nm). For the NP shapes produced, an observably broader tuning range (of about 150 nm) of the surface plasmon resonance (SPR) band is obtained by renewal thin film deposition and laser annealing of the NP array. Despite the broadened SPR bands, which

• surface plasmon resonance (SPR) peak around 520 nm resulted in the observable decrease of the film roughness and resistivity [14]. In case of nanostructuring of a thin Au film by a pulsed-laser beam passing through a pinhole (60 μm), the forced arrangement of nanospheres into micro-circular patterns due

• the plasmon resonance peak resulting from repeated film deposition and laser annealing observed for the first time is reported. Results and Discussion Nanoparticle structures The photothermally stimulated patterning path from a thin metal film to a nanostructured array of particles is initiated by

Carbon nano-onions (multi-layer fullerenes): chemistry and applications

• Juergen Bartelmess and
• Silvia Giordani

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2014, 5, 1980–1998, doi:10.3762/bjnano.5.207

• layers between the biomolecules and the gold surface of the sensor and led to an amplified signal of the biosensor, as determined by surface plasmon resonance spectroscopy. In addition, the biocompatibility of CNOs was investigated and found to be excellent. Environmental remediation: An application of

A study on the consequence of swift heavy ion irradiation of Zn–silica nanocomposite thin films: electronic sputtering

• Compesh Pannu,
• Udai B. Singh,
• Dinesh. C. Agarwal,
• Saif A. Khan,
• Sunil Ojha,
• Ramesh Chandra,
• Hiro Amekura,
• Debdulal Kabiraj and
• Devesh. K. Avasthi

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2014, 5, 1691–1698, doi:10.3762/bjnano.5.179

• plasmon resonance [1], fast optical response [2], and superparamagnetism [3], strongly depend on shape, size, size distribution and the surrounding environment of the metal nanoparticles [4]. Thus, the properties of nanocomposites can be controlled by the variation of these parameters. Swift heavy ion

The influence of molecular mobility on the properties of networks of gold nanoparticles and organic ligands

• Edwin J. Devid,
• Paulo N. Martinho,
• M. Venkata Kamalakar,
• Úna Prendergast,
• Christian Kübel,
• Tibebe Lemma,
• Jean-François Dayen,
• Tia. E. Keyes,
• Bernard Doudin,
• Mario Ruben and
• Sense Jan van der Molen

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2014, 5, 1664–1674, doi:10.3762/bjnano.5.177

• networks by electron microscopy. a) SEM image of a 2D single-layer microcontact printed Au-NP–S-BPP array on a flat Si–SiO2 substrate; b) STEM-reference image of a Au-NP–S-BPP network area on a TEM grid substrate; c) local EDX analysis revealing the elemental composition. Surface plasmon resonance

Synthesis of hydrophobic photoluminescent carbon nanodots by using L-tyrosine and citric acid through a thermal oxidation route

• Venkatesh Gude

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2014, 5, 1513–1522, doi:10.3762/bjnano.5.164

• nm with a tail extending to higher wavelengths [40] and the solution of the composite material exhibited an absorption band in the region of 330–490 nm centered at 420 nm which is related to surface plasmon resonance of spherical Ag NPs [41][42]. The blue shift of the absorption band of Ag NPs from

Protein-coated pH-responsive gold nanoparticles: Microwave-assisted synthesis and surface charge-dependent anticancer activity

• Dickson Joseph,
• Nisha Tyagi,
• Christian Geckeler and
• Kurt E.Geckeler

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2014, 5, 1452–1462, doi:10.3762/bjnano.5.158

• addition of 1 N HCl or 1 N NaOH. The UV–vis spectroscopic studies revealed that the intrinsic pH of the protein led to the formation of AuNPs with strong surface plasmon resonance (SPR) bands. However, at acidic, neutral and basic pH conditions, either AuNPs with weak SPR bands or no AuNPs were formed

Microstructural and plasmonic modifications in Ag–TiO₂ and Au–TiO₂ nanocomposites through ion beam irradiation

• Venkata Sai Kiran Chakravadhanula,
• Yogendra Kumar Mishra,
• Venkata Girish Kotnur,
• Devesh Kumar Avasthi,
• Thomas Strunskus,
• Vladimir Zaporotchenko,
• Dietmar Fink,
• Lorenz Kienle and
• Franz Faupel

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2014, 5, 1419–1431, doi:10.3762/bjnano.5.154

• ion beam induced growth of nanoparticles and structural modifications in the titania matrix. Keywords: noble metal–titania nanocomposite; surface plasmon resonance; swift heavy ions; Introduction Metal nanoparticles embedded in dielectric matrices in the form of nanocomposites have gained

• dielectric constant of the embedding matrix [5][6]. As the dielectric constant in the expression for extinction coefficient (denominator), hence the refractive index of the matrix plays a very important role in surface plasmon resonance (SPR). Several dielectric matrices, such as SiO2 and polymers have been

• ,b suggest that each spectrum mainly consists of two types of information, i.e., i) band-edge at lower wavelength (~320 nm) which is due to TiO2 matrix and ii) a peak in the visible–near infrared region (from about 580 nm to 650 nm for the different spectra) that arises from surface plasmon resonance

Self-organization of mesoscopic silver wires by electrochemical deposition

• Sheng Zhong,
• Thomas Koch,
• Stefan Walheim,
• Harald Rösner,
• Eberhard Nold,
• Aaron Kobler,
• Torsten Scherer,
• Di Wang,
• Christian Kübel,
• Mu Wang,
• Horst Hahn and
• Thomas Schimmel

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2014, 5, 1285–1290, doi:10.3762/bjnano.5.142

• with incident electromagnetic waves at specific frequencies and induce a collective resonant absorption on the surface known as surface plasmon resonance [21]. Because of this feature, noble metals can serve as plasmon waveguides [22][23]. Especially, single-crystalline metallic materials are preferred

Purification of ethanol for highly sensitive self-assembly experiments

• Kathrin Barbe,
• Martin Kind,
• Christian Pfeiffer and
• Andreas Terfort

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2014, 5, 1254–1260, doi:10.3762/bjnano.5.139

• long exposure times, it has been found that for kinetic studies even very minor contaminations can significantly affect the measurements [29]. Of the different time-resolved methods to determine monolayer formation, surface-plasmon resonance (SPR) [30][31] and a resistivity sensor developed by Bohn et

Nanostructure sensitization of transition metal oxides for visible-light photocatalysis

• Hongjun Chen and
• Lianzhou Wang

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2014, 5, 696–710, doi:10.3762/bjnano.5.82

• and facilitates the vectorial electron transfer. Plasmonic metal nanostructures as the photosensitizer Surface plasmon resonance (SPR) is the resonant photon-induced collective oscillation of valence electrons, which happens only if the frequency of photons matches the natural frequency of surface

• nature of the metal, but also on the size and shape of the metallic nanostructures. For example, the plasmon resonance of silver can be tuned from UV to the visible range by reducing the size of silver particles in the nanometer range. Similarly, it is possible to shift the plasmon resonance of gold from

• the visible range to infrared wavelength by tuning the aspect ratio of different gold nanorods. Over the past years, a new method has emerged, which uses the strong plasmon resonance of plasmonic metal nanostructures for improving the efficiency of the photocatalytic process. Similar to the organic

Injection of ligand-free gold and silver nanoparticles into murine embryos does not impact pre-implantation development

• Ulrike Taylor,
• Wiebke Garrels,
• Annette Barchanski,
• Svea Peterson,
• Laszlo Sajti,
• Andrea Lucas-Hahn,
• Lisa Gamrad,
• Ulrich Baulain,
• Sabine Klein,
• Wilfried A. Kues,
• Stephan Barcikowski and
• Detlef Rath

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2014, 5, 677–688, doi:10.3762/bjnano.5.80

• biocompatibility and differentiation of bio-response related to the particles. Results Characterization of gold and silver nanoparticles Due to surface plasmon resonance (SPR), the fabricated gold nanoparticles exhibited a distinct absorption peak around 525 nm wavelength, while a peak at 400 nm was observed for

• Axioplan 200 and a confocal imaging system LSM510 (Carl Zeiss MicroImaging GmbH, Jena, Germany) [55]. Briefly, a helium neon green laser of 543 nm was used to excite the surface plasmon resonance of the gold nanoparticles and a 633 nm helium neon green laser for visualization of the two blastomers in

Effects of the preparation method on the structure and the visible-light photocatalytic activity of Ag₂CrO₄

• Difa Xu,
• Shaowen Cao,
• Jinfeng Zhang,
• Bei Cheng and
• Jiaguo Yu

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2014, 5, 658–666, doi:10.3762/bjnano.5.77

• nanoparticles [32]. These results indicate that Ag2CrO4 was partially reduced to metallic Ag and formed an Ag–Ag2CrO4 composite. However, the majority of Ag2CrO4 was still preserved, and the formed Ag particles may further promote the photocatalytic activity in terms of surface plasmon resonance [75][76] and

Enhanced photocatalytic activity of Ag–ZnO hybrid plasmonic nanostructures prepared by a facile wet chemical method

• Sini Kuriakose,
• Vandana Choudhary,
• Biswarup Satpati and
• Satyabrata Mohapatra

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2014, 5, 639–650, doi:10.3762/bjnano.5.75

• of their recombination rate [19]. Secondly, noble metal nanoparticles on ZnO exhibit localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR) absorption of light which can have significant impact on semiconductor photocatalysis. The LSPR wavelength of noble metal nanoparticles can be tuned from near UV to the

Hole-mask colloidal nanolithography combined with tilted-angle-rotation evaporation: A versatile method for fabrication of low-cost and large-area complex plasmonic nanostructures and metamaterials

• Jun Zhao,
• Bettina Frank,
• Frank Neubrech,
• Chunjie Zhang,
• Paul V. Braun and
• Harald Giessen

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2014, 5, 577–586, doi:10.3762/bjnano.5.68

• Beilstein TV. Keywords: hole-mask colloidal nanolithography; localized surface plasmon resonance sensing; low-cost large-area plasmonic nanostructures; multilayer fabrication; surface-enhanced infrared absorption spectroscopy (SERS); Introduction Optics with metallic nanostructures has generated keen

• surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS), in particular when the particle plasmon resonance was tuned to the pump laser wavelength. Novel applications such as coupling of plasmons to atomic gases are on the horizon [14]. Most of these fundamental effects as well as the early applications have been

• -range. As shown in Figure 5b, the SRR plasmon resonance, as well as the two vibrational modes of the d-ODT molecule is nearly the same for all the measurements. This experiment verifies the extremely homogeneous arrangement of the SRR structures over large-area with really low defect concentration

In vitro toxicity and bioimaging studies of gold nanorods formulations coated with biofunctional thiol-PEG molecules and Pluronic block copolymers

• Tianxun Gong,
• Douglas Goh,
• Malini Olivo and
• Ken-Tye Yong

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2014, 5, 546–553, doi:10.3762/bjnano.5.64

• important characteristics of AuNRs is that as light interacts with them, localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR) is excited and locally oscillates around the particle [1]. LSPRs are electromagnetic modes associated with the collective oscillations of the free electrons confined to the nanoscale size

One pot synthesis of silver nanoparticles using a cyclodextrin containing polymer as reductant and stabilizer

• Arkadius Maciollek and
• Helmut Ritter

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2014, 5, 380–385, doi:10.3762/bjnano.5.44

• nanoparticles; surface plasmon resonance; Introduction Recently the interest in noble metal nano scaled particles increased significantly. Due to their unique physicochemical and microbacterial properties silver nanoparticles (AgNP) are one of the most studied in the field of nanotechnology and have a broad

• result of surface plasmon resonance of noble metal nanoparticles [22]. UV–vis absorption spectroscopy is an established method to characterize the formation of silver nanoparticles and their shape [23]. Figure 2 shows the UV–vis absorption spectra of the metallopolymer solution 2a. The spectra exhibit

• absorption in the range of λmax = 450 nm, the typical surface plasmon resonance band of silver nanoparticles. Furthermore the surface plasmon resonance band in this region strongly suggests the formation of spherical particles [24]. With progress of the particle formation the intensity of the plasmon

Dye-doped spheres with plasmonic semi-shells: Lasing modes and scattering at realistic gain levels

• Nikita Arnold,
• Boyang Ding,
• Calin Hrelescu and
• Thomas A. Klar

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2013, 4, 974–987, doi:10.3762/bjnano.4.110

• spectrum of localized plasmon resonance modes that was investigated analytically and numerically [11][12][13]. It became common to label the different modes according to the symmetries of the modes of the spherically symmetric closed metallic shells. The semi-shell modes can be derived from the closed

Plasmonic oligomers in cylindrical vector light beams

• Mario Hentschel,
• Jens Dorfmüller,
• Harald Giessen,
• Sebastian Jäger,
• Andreas M. Kern,
• Kai Braun,
• Dai Zhang and
• Alfred J. Meixner

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2013, 4, 57–65, doi:10.3762/bjnano.4.6

• , at spectral positions 1, 2, and 3, the currents in the six nanoparticles always oscillate in-phase, manifesting the excitation of the collective dipolar plasmon resonance in the ringlike hexamer. In the heptamer structure, when a central nanoparticle is brought into close proximity with the six

Plasmonics-based detection of H₂ and CO: discrimination between reducing gases facilitated by material control

• Gnanaprakash Dharmalingam,
• Nicholas A. Joy,
• Benjamin Grisafe and
• Michael A. Carpenter

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2012, 3, 712–721, doi:10.3762/bjnano.3.81

• fabricated through layer-by-layer physical vapor deposition (PVD). The change in the peak position of the localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR) was monitored as a function of time and gas concentration. The responses of the films were preferential towards H2, as observed from the results of exposing the

• sensors for turbine engines, solid-oxide fuel cells, and other high-temperature applications. Keywords: hydrogen detection; nanocomposites gold nanoparticles; optical sensor; plasmonics; physical vapor deposition; surface plasmon resonance; Introduction Sensors based on surface plasmon resonance have

• , and particularly for plasmonics-based gas sensing. The extremely high sensitivity of the plasmon resonance peak to changes in the free-electron density of gold nanoparticles or a change in the dielectric function of the metal-oxide host material due to adsorbate reactions on surfaces makes this a

FTIR nanobiosensors for Escherichia coli detection

• Stefania Mura,
• Gianfranco Greppi,
• Maria Laura Marongiu,
• Pier Paolo Roggero,
• Sandeep P. Ravindranath,
• Lisa J. Mauer,
• Nicoletta Schibeci,
• Francesco Perria,
• Massimo Piccinini,
• Plinio Innocenzi and
• Joseph Irudayaraj

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2012, 3, 485–492, doi:10.3762/bjnano.3.55

• , different optical biosensors were created for rapid detection of pathogenic bacteria, using fluorescence or surface plasmon resonance (SPR) because of their sensitivity [22][23]. For fluorescence analysis, antibodies (Ab) are conjugated with fluorescent compounds and used in combination with classical

Macromolecular shape and interactions in layer-by-layer assemblies within cylindrical nanopores

• Thomas D. Lazzara,
• K. H. Aaron Lau,
• Wolfgang Knoll,
• Andreas Janshoff and
• Claudia Steinem

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2012, 3, 475–484, doi:10.3762/bjnano.3.54

• ][17][18]. LbL structures on flat surfaces can be well characterized with subnanometer sensitivity by using a number of surface analysis techniques, such as surface plasmon resonance, atomic force microscopy or ellipsometry [19][20]. For LbL structures formed inside porous systems, such as within films

• macromolecular species on flat surfaces with that in nanopores. LbL deposition on flat surfaces was measured by surface plasmon resonance (SPR) by using gold substrates with a negatively charged self-assembled monolayer of mercaptohexadecanoic acid. The formation of protein multilayers was achieved by using

• glass test tube, inside the chamber. The container was covered with its glass cover and sealed, left in the oven at 130 °C for 5 min to warm, followed by 3 h under continuous vacuum. Surface plasmon resonance (SPR) SPR measurements were performed on a setup operating at 632.8 nm in the Kretschmann