Here we describe a plasmon-enhanced fluorescence substrate based on poly（methyl methacrylate） （PMMA）-coated, large-area Au@Ag nanorod arrays. The use of a PMMA medium enables precise control of the competition bet...Here we describe a plasmon-enhanced fluorescence substrate based on poly（methyl methacrylate） （PMMA）-coated, large-area Au@Ag nanorod arrays. The use of a PMMA medium enables precise control of the competition between enhancing and quenching processes as a function of the distance between Au@Ag nanorods and dye molecules. At the optimal PMMA layer thickness of 56 nm （for which the distance between nanopartides and dye molecules is 16 nm）, a maximum enhancement of fluorescence of up to N 27 times is measured. The competition mechanism between enhancing and quenching processes depends on the thickness of the PMMA layer, which has been confirmed by consistent experimental and theoretical modeling results. Notab136 the micropatterned metal-enhanced fluorescence （MEF） substrate exhibits high uniformity and reproducibility. The simple spin-coating process described herein provides an attractive, scalable, and low-cost strategy to produce uniform and reproducible large-area MEF substrates that can potentially be used in many fields, such as biochips, diagnostics, and photonics.展开更多
Gold nanoshells (GNSs), consisting of a dielectric core coated with gold, have gained extensive attention as they show readily tunable optical properties and good biocompatibility. As highly sensitive and label-free o...Gold nanoshells (GNSs), consisting of a dielectric core coated with gold, have gained extensive attention as they show readily tunable optical properties and good biocompatibility. As highly sensitive and label-free optical biosensors with wide applications, GNSs have been investigated in many fields including drug delivery, immunoassay, cancer treatment, biological sensing and imaging. Taking advantage of the adjustability of the local surface plasmon resonance (LSPR) and the sensitivity of the surfaceenhanced Raman scattering (SERS) signal of GNSs, we have developed diverse applications including plasmonic biosensors and nanoprobes based on GNSs. In this review we introduce plasmonic and electromagnetic properties and fabrication methods of GNSs. We describe research progress in recent years, and highlight several applications of GNSs developed by our group. Finally we provide a brief assessment of future development of GNSs as plasmonic materials that can be integrated with complementary analytical techniques.展开更多
To develop TiO2-based photocatalysts with visible light activity for better solar energy utilization, a simple flash oxidation method was developed by calcining commercial TiN nanoparticle to prepare N-doped TiO2 phot...To develop TiO2-based photocatalysts with visible light activity for better solar energy utilization, a simple flash oxidation method was developed by calcining commercial TiN nanoparticle to prepare N-doped TiO2 photocatalyst and TiN/TiO2 composite photocatalysts through the modulation of the calcination time and temperature. It was found that more energy and processing time were needed to prepare N-doped TiO2 photocatalyst than that of TiN/TiO2 composite photocatalyst during this process, while TiN/TiO2 composite photocatalyst bad a better visible light absorption/photocatalytic performance than that of N-doped TiO2 photocatalyst prepared from the oxidation of the same TiN precursor. Thus, the preparation of TiN/TiO2 composite photocatalyst from TiN precursor should be a more preferred approach than the preparation of N-doped TiO2 photocatalyst for visible-light-activated photocatalysis for its costeffectiveness.展开更多
The process of photocatalysis,regarded as a promising approach for tackling the energy crisis and environmental pollution issues,is crucial for turning solar light into chemical resources.However,the solar-chemical co...The process of photocatalysis,regarded as a promising approach for tackling the energy crisis and environmental pollution issues,is crucial for turning solar light into chemical resources.However,the solar-chemical conversion efficiency of typical semiconductor catalysts is still too low,so it is vital to figure out how to boost photocatalytic performance of semiconductors.Under visible light illumination,the local surface plasmon resonance(LSPR)induced by coinage metal would enhance the local electric field and improve photocatalytic performance of semiconductors,especially in the visible range.Therefore,its attachment to semiconductors has been regarded as an efficient strategy to improve photocatalytic performance.This paper reviews the latest research progress of plasmonic photocatalysis from theory to application.Starting from the excitation and relaxation of plasmons,four main mechanisms of plasmon-enhanced semiconductor photocatalysis are introduced,including enhanced light absorption and scattering,local electromagnetic field enhancement,improved hot carriers(HCs)injection and enhanced thermal effect.Secondly,the current mainstream plasmonic photocatalysts,such as monometallic,bimetallic and non-noble metal-based plasmonic catalysts,are reviewed.Finally,the applications of plasmonic photocatalysts in H_(2) production,CO_(2) reduction,and antibacterial are further summarized.展开更多
Development of cost-effective, highly reproducible non-conventional fabrication techniques for anisotropic metal nanostructures is essential to realizing potential applications of plasmonic devices, photonic devices, ...Development of cost-effective, highly reproducible non-conventional fabrication techniques for anisotropic metal nanostructures is essential to realizing potential applications of plasmonic devices, photonic devices, and surface enhanced Raman scattering （SERS） phenomenon based sensors. This report highlights the fabrication of nanotriangle arrays via nanoimprinting to overcome difficulties in creating large-area SERS active substrates with uniform, reproducible Raman signals. Electron beam lithography of anisotropic nanostructures, formation of arrays of nanotriangles in silicon and the transfer of triangular shapes to polymethylmethacrylate （PMMA） sheets via nanoimprinting have not been reported elsewhere. The reuse of silicon masters offers potential for production of low cost SERS substrates. The SERS activity and reproducibility of nanotriangles are illustrated and a consistent average enhancement factor of up to -2.9 × 1011, which is the highest value reported for a patterned SERS substrate, is achieved.展开更多
Noble metallic nanostructures exhibit special optical properties resulting from excitation of surface plasmons. Among the various metallic nanostructures, nanorods have attracted particular attention because of their ...Noble metallic nanostructures exhibit special optical properties resulting from excitation of surface plasmons. Among the various metallic nanostructures, nanorods have attracted particular attention because of their unique and intriguing shape-dependent plasmonic properties. Nanorods can sup- port transverse and longitudinal plasmon modes, the latter ones depending strongly on the aspect ratio of the nanorod. These modes can be routinely tuned from the visible to the near-infrared spectral regions. Although nanorods have been investigated extensively, there are few studies de- voted to nanostructures deviating from the nanorod shape. This review provides an overview of recent progress in the development of two kinds of novel quasi-one-dimensional silver nanostruc- tures, nanorice and nanocarrot, including their syntheses, crystalline characterizations, plasmonic property analyses, and performance in plasmonic sensing applications.展开更多
The methanation of CO_(2) using green hydrogen not only consumes CO_(2) as a carbon resource but also stores H_(2) with high density.However,the activation of CO_(2) molecules under mild conditions is challenging due ...The methanation of CO_(2) using green hydrogen not only consumes CO_(2) as a carbon resource but also stores H_(2) with high density.However,the activation of CO_(2) molecules under mild conditions is challenging due to their inert nature.Herein,we report an efficient photothermal catalytic system using light irradiation which realizes the complete conversion of CO_(2) to methane without external heating.Over optimum bimetallic Ni Fe nanoparticles(NPs)with a Ni/Fe atomic ratio of 7,the CO_(2) conversion can reach up to 98%with a CH_(4) selectivity of 99%,and no catalyst deactivation was observed for more than 100 h,outperforming the reported catalysts.The catalytic performance is strongly dependent on the structure promoters,light absorption efficiency,Ni Fe particle sizes,and Ni/Fe ratio.The Ni Fe alloy NPs with an average size of~21 nm dispersed on alumina nanosheets are evidenced to enhance the localized surface plasmon resonance(LSPR)effect,thus efficiently triggering the CO_(2) methanation.This work emphasizes and clarifies the important role of LSPR in CO_(2) hydrogenation,which may benefit the rational utilization of CO_(2) using solar power.展开更多
Infrared(IR)light photodetection based on two dimensional(2D)materials of proper bandgap has attracted increasing attention.However,the weak IR absorption in 2D materials,due to their ultrathin attribute and indirect ...Infrared(IR)light photodetection based on two dimensional(2D)materials of proper bandgap has attracted increasing attention.However,the weak IR absorption in 2D materials,due to their ultrathin attribute and indirect bandgap in multilayer structures,degrades their performance when used as IR photodetectors.In this work,we utilize the fact that few-layer MoTe2 flake has a near-IR(NIR)bandgap and demonstrate a^60-fold enhancement of NIR response by introducing a gold hollow nanorods on the surface.Such gold hollow nanorods have distinct absorption peak located also at the NIR regime,therefore induces strong resonance,benefitting NIR absorption in MoTe2,resulting in strong near-field enhancement.With the evidence from steady and transient state optical spectra,we confirm that the enhancement of NIR response originates only photon absorption,rather than electron transport at interfaces as observed in other heterostructures,therefore,precluding the requirement of high-quality interfaces for commercial applications.展开更多
文摘Here we describe a plasmon-enhanced fluorescence substrate based on poly（methyl methacrylate） （PMMA）-coated, large-area Au@Ag nanorod arrays. The use of a PMMA medium enables precise control of the competition between enhancing and quenching processes as a function of the distance between Au@Ag nanorods and dye molecules. At the optimal PMMA layer thickness of 56 nm （for which the distance between nanopartides and dye molecules is 16 nm）, a maximum enhancement of fluorescence of up to N 27 times is measured. The competition mechanism between enhancing and quenching processes depends on the thickness of the PMMA layer, which has been confirmed by consistent experimental and theoretical modeling results. Notab136 the micropatterned metal-enhanced fluorescence （MEF） substrate exhibits high uniformity and reproducibility. The simple spin-coating process described herein provides an attractive, scalable, and low-cost strategy to produce uniform and reproducible large-area MEF substrates that can potentially be used in many fields, such as biochips, diagnostics, and photonics.
基金supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (90923010)the National Basic Research Program of China (2010CB933902)the Promoting Project for Industrialization of Scientific Research Achievement of Regular Institutions of Higher Education in Jiangsu Province (2009-34)
文摘Gold nanoshells (GNSs), consisting of a dielectric core coated with gold, have gained extensive attention as they show readily tunable optical properties and good biocompatibility. As highly sensitive and label-free optical biosensors with wide applications, GNSs have been investigated in many fields including drug delivery, immunoassay, cancer treatment, biological sensing and imaging. Taking advantage of the adjustability of the local surface plasmon resonance (LSPR) and the sensitivity of the surfaceenhanced Raman scattering (SERS) signal of GNSs, we have developed diverse applications including plasmonic biosensors and nanoprobes based on GNSs. In this review we introduce plasmonic and electromagnetic properties and fabrication methods of GNSs. We describe research progress in recent years, and highlight several applications of GNSs developed by our group. Finally we provide a brief assessment of future development of GNSs as plasmonic materials that can be integrated with complementary analytical techniques.
基金supported financially by the National Natural Science Foundation of China(Grant Nos.51672283 and 51602316)the Basic Science Innovation Program of Shenyang National Laboratory for Materials Science(Grant Nos.Y4N56R1161 and Y5N56F2161)
文摘To develop TiO2-based photocatalysts with visible light activity for better solar energy utilization, a simple flash oxidation method was developed by calcining commercial TiN nanoparticle to prepare N-doped TiO2 photocatalyst and TiN/TiO2 composite photocatalysts through the modulation of the calcination time and temperature. It was found that more energy and processing time were needed to prepare N-doped TiO2 photocatalyst than that of TiN/TiO2 composite photocatalyst during this process, while TiN/TiO2 composite photocatalyst bad a better visible light absorption/photocatalytic performance than that of N-doped TiO2 photocatalyst prepared from the oxidation of the same TiN precursor. Thus, the preparation of TiN/TiO2 composite photocatalyst from TiN precursor should be a more preferred approach than the preparation of N-doped TiO2 photocatalyst for visible-light-activated photocatalysis for its costeffectiveness.
基金supported by the National Key Research and Development Program of China(2019YFA0705400)the National Natural Science Foundation of China(22104124,22005130,22272069,and 22104135)+1 种基金the State Key Laboratory of Fine Chemicals,Dalian University of Technology(KF2002)the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities(20720220117).
文摘The process of photocatalysis,regarded as a promising approach for tackling the energy crisis and environmental pollution issues,is crucial for turning solar light into chemical resources.However,the solar-chemical conversion efficiency of typical semiconductor catalysts is still too low,so it is vital to figure out how to boost photocatalytic performance of semiconductors.Under visible light illumination,the local surface plasmon resonance(LSPR)induced by coinage metal would enhance the local electric field and improve photocatalytic performance of semiconductors,especially in the visible range.Therefore,its attachment to semiconductors has been regarded as an efficient strategy to improve photocatalytic performance.This paper reviews the latest research progress of plasmonic photocatalysis from theory to application.Starting from the excitation and relaxation of plasmons,four main mechanisms of plasmon-enhanced semiconductor photocatalysis are introduced,including enhanced light absorption and scattering,local electromagnetic field enhancement,improved hot carriers(HCs)injection and enhanced thermal effect.Secondly,the current mainstream plasmonic photocatalysts,such as monometallic,bimetallic and non-noble metal-based plasmonic catalysts,are reviewed.Finally,the applications of plasmonic photocatalysts in H_(2) production,CO_(2) reduction,and antibacterial are further summarized.
文摘Development of cost-effective, highly reproducible non-conventional fabrication techniques for anisotropic metal nanostructures is essential to realizing potential applications of plasmonic devices, photonic devices, and surface enhanced Raman scattering （SERS） phenomenon based sensors. This report highlights the fabrication of nanotriangle arrays via nanoimprinting to overcome difficulties in creating large-area SERS active substrates with uniform, reproducible Raman signals. Electron beam lithography of anisotropic nanostructures, formation of arrays of nanotriangles in silicon and the transfer of triangular shapes to polymethylmethacrylate （PMMA） sheets via nanoimprinting have not been reported elsewhere. The reuse of silicon masters offers potential for production of low cost SERS substrates. The SERS activity and reproducibility of nanotriangles are illustrated and a consistent average enhancement factor of up to -2.9 × 1011, which is the highest value reported for a patterned SERS substrate, is achieved.
文摘Noble metallic nanostructures exhibit special optical properties resulting from excitation of surface plasmons. Among the various metallic nanostructures, nanorods have attracted particular attention because of their unique and intriguing shape-dependent plasmonic properties. Nanorods can sup- port transverse and longitudinal plasmon modes, the latter ones depending strongly on the aspect ratio of the nanorod. These modes can be routinely tuned from the visible to the near-infrared spectral regions. Although nanorods have been investigated extensively, there are few studies de- voted to nanostructures deviating from the nanorod shape. This review provides an overview of recent progress in the development of two kinds of novel quasi-one-dimensional silver nanostruc- tures, nanorice and nanocarrot, including their syntheses, crystalline characterizations, plasmonic property analyses, and performance in plasmonic sensing applications.
基金supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (92145301,22121001,22222206,and U22A20392)the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities (20720220008 and 20720220021)。
文摘The methanation of CO_(2) using green hydrogen not only consumes CO_(2) as a carbon resource but also stores H_(2) with high density.However,the activation of CO_(2) molecules under mild conditions is challenging due to their inert nature.Herein,we report an efficient photothermal catalytic system using light irradiation which realizes the complete conversion of CO_(2) to methane without external heating.Over optimum bimetallic Ni Fe nanoparticles(NPs)with a Ni/Fe atomic ratio of 7,the CO_(2) conversion can reach up to 98%with a CH_(4) selectivity of 99%,and no catalyst deactivation was observed for more than 100 h,outperforming the reported catalysts.The catalytic performance is strongly dependent on the structure promoters,light absorption efficiency,Ni Fe particle sizes,and Ni/Fe ratio.The Ni Fe alloy NPs with an average size of~21 nm dispersed on alumina nanosheets are evidenced to enhance the localized surface plasmon resonance(LSPR)effect,thus efficiently triggering the CO_(2) methanation.This work emphasizes and clarifies the important role of LSPR in CO_(2) hydrogenation,which may benefit the rational utilization of CO_(2) using solar power.
基金This project was supported by the Research Grant Council of Hong Kong SAR(No.1620441)NSFC-RGC Joint Research Scheme(No.N_HKUST607/17)+4 种基金the Innovation and Technology Commission(No.ITC-CNERC14SC01)the Zhongshan Municipal Bureau of Science&Technology(No.ZSST19EG03)National Natural Science Foundation of China(NSFC)(Nos.11825203,51872100,21825103,21501060 and 51727809)National Basic Research Program of China(Nos.2015CB932600 and 2019kfyRCPY059)Foundation of Shenzhen Science and Technology Innovation Committee(No.JCYJ20180504170444967).
文摘Infrared(IR)light photodetection based on two dimensional(2D)materials of proper bandgap has attracted increasing attention.However,the weak IR absorption in 2D materials,due to their ultrathin attribute and indirect bandgap in multilayer structures,degrades their performance when used as IR photodetectors.In this work,we utilize the fact that few-layer MoTe2 flake has a near-IR(NIR)bandgap and demonstrate a^60-fold enhancement of NIR response by introducing a gold hollow nanorods on the surface.Such gold hollow nanorods have distinct absorption peak located also at the NIR regime,therefore induces strong resonance,benefitting NIR absorption in MoTe2,resulting in strong near-field enhancement.With the evidence from steady and transient state optical spectra,we confirm that the enhancement of NIR response originates only photon absorption,rather than electron transport at interfaces as observed in other heterostructures,therefore,precluding the requirement of high-quality interfaces for commercial applications.
