Influence of solvent polarity on light-induced thermal cycles in plasmonic nanofluids

Abstract

Pattern formation often reveals constituent nonlinear mechanisms of a complex system. Here, we study self-synchronizing, light-induced thermal cycles in plasmonically absorbing nanofluids, whose anomalous thermal, optomechanical, electrochemical, and hydrodynamic responses are not yet well understood. We show that the oscillatory behavior—caused by light grazing the nanofluid meniscus—exhibits a strong dependence on hydrogen bonding in the solvent environment and that there are low-intensity optical thresholds in alcohol–water binary-solvent nanofluids. Moreover, these thermal cycles occur with a periodic, vertically discharging heat-dissipation mechanism, which could be facilitated by nanobubbles or thermophoresis. We show that an incoherent white-light source, such as sunlight, will also induce self-synchronizing thermal cycles; in this demonstration, we illustrate new methods of energy storage, transfer, and harvesting that will not alter the natural carbon cycle of life.