In Situ “Doping” Inverse Silica Opals with Size-Controllable Gold Nanoparticles for Refractive Index Sensing

• Published in: Journal of physical chemistry. C Vol. 117; no. 18; pp. 9440 - 9445
• Main Authors: Cai, Zhongyu, Liu, Yan Jun, Lu, Xianmao, Teng, Jinghua
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Columbus, OH American Chemical Society 09.05.2013
• Subjects: Condensed matter: electronic structure, electrical, magnetic, and optical properties; Condensed matter: structure, mechanical and thermal properties; Cross-disciplinary physics: materials science; rheology; Equations of state, phase equilibria, and phase transitions; Exact sciences and technology; General studies of phase transitions; Materials science; Methods of nanofabrication; Nanocrystals and nanoparticles; Nanopowders; Nanoscale materials and structures: fabrication and characterization; Optical properties and condensed-matter spectroscopy and other interactions of matter with particles and radiation; Optical properties of low-dimensional, mesoscopic, and nanoscale materials and structures; Order-disorder and statistical mechanics of model systems; Physics; Self-assembly; Gold; Order-disorder transformations; Bragg diffraction; Refractive index; Photonic crystals; Doping; Opals; Silica; Nanoparticles; Self-assembly; Metallic thin films; Optical properties; Ordering; Ligands; Surface plasmon resonance; Nanostructured materials
• ISSN: 1932-7447; 1932-7455
• DOI: 10.1021/jp4024298

We report the fabrication of inverse SiO2 opals “doped” with gold (i-Au-SiO2-o) nanoparticles (NPs) via a co-self-assembly method combined with subsequent removal of polystyrene colloidal spheres by calcination. The resulting i-Au-SiO2-o films demonstrate long-range ordering with uniform distribution of ligand-free Au NPs. The size of Au NPs can be tuned from 6 to 30 nm by varying the calcination temperature. The as-prepared i-Au-SiO2-o films preserve both localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR) and Bragg diffraction peaks simultaneously. Both LSPR and Bragg diffraction peaks are sensitive to the refractive index changes of the surrounding mediuman important feature for sensing applications. The method provides a facile and versatile way to fabricate high-quality Au NP “doped” photonic crystals for applications in sensing and others.