Tuning the optical properties of Fe-Au core-shell nanoparticles with spherical and spheroidal nanostructures

Abstract

Present research interest is to highlight on the manufacturing of core-shell nanoparticles because of core activity with unique properties and surface modification by a shell in the diverse fields (e.g. optoelectronic, catalysis and magneto-optics). In addition, the combined optical properties of magnetic-plasmonic core-shell NPs make them ideal candidates for many applications in biomedical fields. The influence of Fe-core and Au-shell for the formation of the core-shell viz. spherical and spheroidal nanostructures is studied using the discrete dipole approximation method. DDA is an approximation method and its accuracy is compared to Mie theory results for spherical core-shell NPs as Mie theory gives the exact solution to spherical targeted NPs. DDA calculations are further extended to spheroidal core-shell nanostructures. It is observed that the localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR) peak position in considered core-shell nanostructures is enhanced by changing the cores and shell thickness in the core-shell spherical nanostructures and aspect ratio as well as shell thickness in spheroidal core-shell nanostructures. The absorption spectra are found between 363–788 nm wavelength ranges and can be tuned into UV-visible-near-infrared region of the electromagnetic (EM) spectrum in accordance with desired applications. It has been found that the Fe@hollow@Au and prolate core-shell nanostructures show enhancement to LSPR peaks, bandwidth and their corresponding intensities in comparison to other considered spherical and spheroidal core-shell nanostructures. Tunability in core size, shell thickness, aspect ratio, and configuration will open new potential uses of suitable magnetic-plasmonic core-shell nanostructures in cancer therapy, tissue engineering, drug delivery, and many more of biomedical fields.