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Thermally switchable plasmonic optical response of Au@PEtOx-stat-PBuOx core-shell nanoparticles with a tunable switching point

Year: 2026

Type: article

Abstract: The aqueous colloids of Au@PEtOx- stat -PBuOx (Au@PEtOx 1-x PBuOx x ) core-shell nanoparticles with a gold core ( Au ) and a shell formed by a thermoresponsive statistical copolymers α-methyl-ω-hydroxy poly(2-ethyl-2-oxazoline)- stat -poly(2- n -butyl-2-oxazoline) with various relative content of hydrophobic and hydrophilic units or α-methyl-ω-hydroxy poly(2-ethyl-2-oxazoline) (PEtOx) were synthesized as a potential platform for plasmonic based thermo-optical applications, thermally switchable optical absorbers in particular. Dynamic and electrophoretic light scattering, UV-Vis absorption, Raman scattering measurements as well as numerical simulation showed that the PEtOx-stat-PBuOx shell in Au@PEtOx 1-x PBuOx x nanoparticles undergoes a lower critical solution temperature (LCST) phase transition, which produces a sharp, switch-like change in the plasmonic optical response of the Au core. The LCST transition temperature was found to shift monotonically from 81 to 17 °C as the hydrophobic PBuOx content x increases from 0 to 0.3, passing through the physiological temperature of 37 °C at x = 0.19. The revealed effect of the precise and predictable tuning of the switching temperature by varying the ratio of the hydrophilic PEtOx and hydrophobic PBuOx components in the PEtOx- stat -PBuOx copolymer shell makes this system highly versatile for various temperature-controlled nanophotonic and biomedical applications.

Source: Materials Today Communications

DOI: 10.1016/j.mtcomm.2026.115748

Authors: Oleg Yeshchenko, Lea Daoud, Oles Fedotov, Pavlo Khort, Oksana Krupka

Institutions: Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, Inserm, Micro et Nanomédecines translationnelles

Language: English

Topic: Gold and Silver Nanoparticles Synthesis and Applications

Subfield: Electronic, Optical and Magnetic Materials

Field: Materials Science

Domain: Physical Sciences

Open Access status: hybrid

Estimated APC paid: $2,830