Reversible control in surface plasmon resonance wavelength of gold nanoparticles by using polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS)

Abstract

In this paper, we demonstrate reversible control in surface plasomon resonance (SPR) wavelength of gold nanoparticles (GNPs) by changing their interparticle distance, which is dependent on the length of alkyl chain of alkanethiol adsorbed on GNPs and the swelling effect of polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) used as a host material. A SPR wavelength was first positioned at a given wavelength dependent on the length of alkanethiol when GNPs were immobilized in PDMS. It was found that SPR wavelength red-shifted when the length of the carbon chain was shortened. On the other hand, when silicone oil was transfused to PDMS, SPR wavelength was blue-shifted by the swelling effect (volume expansion) of PDMS. And once silicone oil was volatilized, the particles returned to the original position and SPR did as well. Additionally, the coefficient of expansion of PDMS could be changed by changing the kind of silicon oils. From these results, it could be concluded that the SPR control due to their interparticle distance of GNPs was reversible and the varying degree of swelling of PDMS led to good controllability of SPR in a wide range of wavelength. © 2011 Ceramic Society of Japan.