Plasmonic heating assisted deposition of bare Au nanoparticles on titania nanoshells

A very simple procedure for depositing bare Au nanoparticles onto the surface of oxide nanoshells is presented. This method is based on plasmonic heating assisted processes which are triggered by a continuous wave laser source that is focused through the objective of a Raman microscope. The Au nanoparticles are obtained upon laser irradiation of colloidal crystals consisting of Au semishells buried in titania overlayers. SERS activity and heating effects induced by laser irradiation are demonstrated in a series of microRaman experiments.

Graphical abstractThe plasmonic heating generated by a low power, continuous wave laser irradiation of gold-embedded titania nanoshells was exploited for depositing Au nanoparticles which exhibited SERS activity.Figure optionsDownload full-size imageDownload high-quality image (52 K)Download as PowerPoint slideResearch highlights► Plasmonic heating is generated by interaction of a continuous wave He–Ne laser with gold-embedded titania nanoshells. ► Through a line scanning approach, the optothermal effects can be exploited for depositing bare, “uncapped” Au nanoparticles onto the surface of titania nanoshells. ► The resulting hybrid colloids are used as SERS-active supports.