Tailored functional nanoparticles by polymerization induced by surface plasmons
Amine Khitous1,2, Céline Molinaro1,2, Olivier Soppera1,2
1Université de Haute-Alsace, CNRS, IS2M UMR 7361, Mulhouse F-68100, France
2Université de Strasbourg, Strasbourg F-67000, France
"In this study, we describe an approach developed to carry out and characterize polymerization reactions triggered by the excitation of metal nanostructures. Nanoparticles prepared by chemical (colloidal synthesis) or physical (dewetting of gold films) methods are used. The particles are deposited on TEM grids, enabling nano-objects to be characterized at every stage of the experiments. Different configurations are used to irradiate the nanoparticles and induce polymerization reactions, with continuous or pulsed light, in the visible or near infrared, and different polarization states.
After irradiation, polymer patches are observed on the metal nanostructures. These patches are analyzed as a function of irradiation conditions, and compared with numerically calculated field maps.
Various chemistries were applied to this configuration. The main results were obtained by radical photochemistry induced by monophotonic or biphotonic absorption. On the basis of this chemistry, other polymerizations were induced, such as that of living photopolymerization systems, molecularly imprinted polymers or metal salt photoreductions."
TEM images of metal nanoparticles with polymer nanopatches prepared by polymerization induced by surface plasmon resonance