Dispersion and self-assembly of 2,5-dimercapto-1,3,4-thiadiazole (DMTD) functionalized silver QDs in 6 CHBT liquid crystal

Abstract

ABSTRACT Silver nanoparticles were synthesised using silver nitrate and tri-sodium citrate and were functionalized with 2,5-Dimercapto-1,3,4-thiadiazole (DMTD) linking molecules. Functionalized silver nanoparticles dispersed within 4-(trans-4-n hexylcyclohexyl) isothiocyanatobenzoate (6CHBT) liquid crystal (LC) matrices have attracted significant attention because of their potential for tailoring tuneable surface plasmonic, optical, and electronic properties by controlling the self-assembly of silver dots. The unique combination of functionalized nanoparticles and 6CHBT LCs offers a versatile platform for manipulating interactions at the nanoscale. The dispersion of functionalized Ag nanoparticles within the LCs appears to substantially modify the plasmonic and opto-electronic properties of the Ag QDs. The formation and morphology of the self-assembled structures of silver nanoparticles were confirmed by Optical and Scanning Electron Microscopy. Optical microscopy (OM) and Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) images of Ag-doped 6CHBT confirmed the formation of nano-micro spheres, as well as ring and rod-like structures in LC media. We have used High-Resolution X-ray diffraction (HR-XRD), Fourier-Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR), Surface-Enhanced Raman Spectroscopy (SERS), Optical Microscopy (OM), Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM), Ultraviolet-visible-near-infrared Spectroscopy (UV-Vis-NIR), and Fluorescence (FL) Spectroscopy. We calculated the electronic properties such as the bandgap of the synthesised Ag QDs and functionalized Ag QDs using UV-Vis-NIR and Tauc’s plot curves. Surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy, Optical microscopy, SEM, and UV-Vis-NIR spectral data were used to correlate the properties of the LC and QDs hybrid systems.