Hot Holes Assist Plasmonic Nanoelectrode Dissolution.

Strong light-absorbing properties allow plasmonic metal nanoparticles to serve as antennas for other catalysts to function as photocatalysts. To achieve plasmonic photocatalysis, the hot charge carriers created when light is absorbed must be harnessed before they decay through internal relaxation pathways. We demonstrate the role of photogenerated hot holes in the oxidative dissolution of individual gold nanorods with millisecond time resolution while tuning charge-carrier density and photon energy using snapshot hyperspectral imaging. We show that light-induced hot charge carriers enhance the rate of gold oxidation and subsequent electrodissolution. Importantly, we distinguish how hot holes generated from interband transitions versus hot holes around the Fermi level contribute to photooxidative dissolution. The results provide new insights into hot-hole-driven processes with relevance to photocatalysis while emphasizing the need for statistical descriptions of nonequilibrium processes on innately heterogeneous nanoparticle supports.

Spectral Response of Plasmonic Gold Nanoparticles to Capacitive Charging: Morphology Effects.

We report a study of the shape-dependent spectral response of the gold nanoparticle surface plasmon resonance at various electron densities to provide mechanistic insight into the role of capacitive charging, a topic of some debate. We demonstrate a morphology-dependent spectral response for gold nanoparticles due to capacitive charging using single-particle spectroscopy in an inert electrochemical environment. A decrease in plasmon energy and increase in spectral width for gold nanospheres and nanorods was observed as the electron density was tuned through a potential window of -0.3 to 0.1 V. The combined observations could not be explained by existing theories. A new quantum theory for charging based on the random phase approximation was developed. Additionally, the redox reaction of gold oxide formation was probed using single-particle plasmon voltammetry to reproduce the reduction peak from the bulk cyclic voltammetry. These results deepen our understanding of the relationship between optical and electronic properties in plasmonic nanoparticles and provide insight toward their potential applications in directed electrocatalysis.

Reversible control of current across lipid membranes by local heating.

Lipid membranes are almost impermeable for charged molecules and ions that can pass the membrane barrier only with the help of specialized transport proteins. Here, we report how temperature manipulation at the nanoscale can be employed to reversibly control the electrical resistance and the amount of current that flows through a bilayer membrane with pA resolution. For this experiment, heating is achieved by irradiating gold nanoparticles that are attached to the bilayer membrane with laser light at their plasmon resonance frequency. We found that controlling the temperature on the nanoscale renders it possible to reproducibly regulate the current across a phospholipid membrane and the membrane of living cells in absence of any ion channels.

Analyzing the movement of the Nauplius 'Artemia salina' by optical tracking of plasmonic nanoparticles.

We demonstrate how optical tweezers may provide a sensitive tool to analyze the fluidic vibrations generated by the movement of small aquatic organisms. A single gold nanoparticle held by an optical tweezer is used as a sensor to quantify the rhythmic motion of a Nauplius larva (Artemia salina) in a water sample. This is achieved by monitoring the time dependent displacement of the trapped nanoparticle as a consequence of the Nauplius activity. A Fourier analysis of the nanoparticle's position then yields a frequency spectrum that is characteristic to the motion of the observed species. This experiment demonstrates the capability of this method to measure and characterize the activity of small aquatic larvae without the requirement to observe them directly and to gain information about the position of the larvae with respect to the trapped particle. Overall, this approach could give an insight on the vitality of certain species found in an aquatic ecosystem and could expand the range of conventional methods for analyzing water samples.

Membrane composition of jetted lipid vesicles: a Raman spectroscopy study.

Microfluidic jetting is a promising method to produce giant unilamellar phospholipid vesicles for mimicking living cells in biomedical studies. We have investigated the chemical composition of membranes of vesicles prepared using this approach by means of Raman scattering spectroscopy. The membranes of all jetted vesicles are found to contain residuals of the organic solvent decane used in the preparation of the initial planar membrane. The decane inclusions are randomly distributed over the vesicle surface area and vary in thickness from a few to several tens of nanometers. Our findings point out that the membrane properties of jetted vesicles may differ considerably from those of vesicles prepared by other methods and from those of living cells.