Year: 2025
Type: article
Abstract: A critical aspect of designing and realizing useful solid state materials is controlling phase and structure to tailor physical properties. While common for semiconductor and quantum materials, plasmonic materials have inhabited a narrow phase space typically comprising one or two elements, e.g., face-centered cubic metals. While this simplicity has enabled robust use and understanding of Au and Ag nanoparticles, it has also limited the design and manipulation of solid state properties. Here, we show that by tuning the phase and elemental composition of binary Au-Sn nanoparticles, the steady-state absorbance and ultrafast thermalization properties of plasmonic nanoparticles can be controlled. Solid state characterization suggests this is due to the dealloying of Sn and destabilization of AuSn phase, leading to higher quality Au5Sn intermetallic phases alongside Au. Consequently, this work shows that phase control can profoundly influence the properties of plasmonic nanoparticles, providing important tunability for applications in catalysis, photothermal heating, and sensing.
Source: Chemistry of Materials
Language: English
Field: Materials Science
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: hybrid
Estimated APC paid: $4,500
Funders: Northeastern Section, American Chemical Society, National Science Foundation, U.S. Department of Energy, American Chemical Society, Commonwealth of Massachusetts, Nancy Lurie Marks Family Foundation, U.S. Army Combat Capabilities Development Command Soldier Center, Directorate for Engineering, Directorate for Mathematical and Physical Sciences, Office of Science, University of Massachusetts Amherst, Division of Materials Research, Basic Energy Sciences, U.S. Army Combat Capabilities Development Command, DEVCOM Army Research Laboratory, University of Massachusetts Lowell
Awards: G126516102, LEAPS-MPS: Manipulating Noble Metal Nanoparticles Using Post-Transition Metal Alloying, G3163185189, G4407698611, G6976453074, INVESTIGATING ULTRAFAST DYNAMICS IN SOLID-STATE PHOTOCATALYTIC AND PHOTOVOLTAIC MATERIALS USING TIME-RESOLVED MOSSBAUER SPECTROSCOPY, MRI: Acquisition of Small/Wide-Angle and Non-Ambient X-Ray Diffraction Packages for Research and Education in Energy and Environmental Sustainability, G83291867, G8521786962
OpenAlex ID: W4415402437