Abstract
Hollow noble metal nanoparticles have excellent performance not only in surface catalysis but also in optics. In this work, the hollow Au–Ag alloy nanorices are fabricated by the galvanic replacement reaction. The dark-field spectrum points out that there is a big difference in the optical properties between the pure Ag nanorices and the hollow alloy nanorices that exhibit highly tunable localized surface plasmon resonances (LSPR) and that possess larger radiative damping, which is also indicated by the finite element method. Furthermore, the surface enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) and oxidation test indicate that hollow Au–Ag alloy nanorices show good anti-oxidation and have broad application prospects in surface-plasmon-related fields.
Highlights
Because of abundant free electrons, metal nanoparticles perform excellently in terms of optical, electric, and thermal properties, which have tremendous applications in many research fields
The confinement reaches a maximum when the resonance of collective oscillation occurs, generating an enormous enhanced electromagnetic field at the metal surface, and this can be applied in various fields, e.g., surface enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) [5,6,7], plasmon driven surface catalysis (PDSC) [8,9], plasmon enhanced optical activity [10], plasmonic waveguide [11,12], plasmon enhanced water splitting [13,14], plasmonic thermal effect [15,16], etc
Similar to the resonance of tuning forks, the collective oscillation of free electrons is named localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR), which is highly influenced by shape, size, material, and the configuration of nanoparticles [17]
Summary
Because of abundant free electrons, metal nanoparticles perform excellently in terms of optical, electric, and thermal properties, which have tremendous applications in many research fields. The optical properties of noble metal nanoparticles have gained much interest from researchers since the light-excited collective oscillation of free electrons, i.e. surface plasmon, can confine light to a great extent on metal surfaces [1,2,3,4]. Similar to the resonance of tuning forks, the collective oscillation of free electrons is named localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR), which is highly influenced by shape, size, material, and the configuration of nanoparticles [17]. In previous extensive research works, the galvanic replacement reaction is adopted as a simple and convenient way to prepare hollow nanostructures, especially noble metals. Ag nanocrystals acting as the reducing agent are oxidized to AgCl, which have a high solubility in Nanomaterials 2017, 7, 255; doi:10.3390/nano7090255 www.mdpi.com/journal/nanomaterials
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