Dual-Functional Solar-to-Steam Generation and SERS Detection Substrate Based on Plasmonic Nanostructure.

Solar-to-steam (STS) generation based on plasmonic materials has attracted significant attention as a green method for producing fresh water. Herein, a simple in situ method is introduced to fabricate Au nanoparticles (AuNPs) on cellulose filter papers as dual-functional substrates for STS generation and surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) sensing. The substrates exhibit 90% of broadband solar absorption between 350 and 1800 nm and achieve an evaporation rate of 0.96 kg·m-2·h-1 under 1-sun illumination, room temperature of 20 °C, and relative humidity of 40%. The STS generation of the substrate is stable during 30 h continuous operation. Enriched SERS hotspots between AuNPs endow the substrates with the ability to detect chemical contamination in water with ppb limits of detection for rhodamine 6G dye and melamine. To demonstrate dual-functional properties, the contaminated water was analyzed with SERS and purified by STS. The purified water was then analyzed with SERS to confirm its purity. The developed substrate can be an improved and suitable candidate for fresh water production and qualification.

Surface Modification of ZrO2 Nanoparticles with TEOS to Prepare Transparent ZrO2@SiO2-PDMS Nanocomposite Films with Adjustable Refractive Indices.

Here, highly transparent nanocomposite films with an adjustable refractive index were fabricated through stable dispersion of ZrO2 (n = 2.16) nanoparticles (NPs) subjected to surface modification with SiO2 (n = 1.46) in polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) (n = 1.42) using the Stöber method. ZrO2 NPs (13.7 nm) were synthesized using conventional hydrothermal synthesis, and their surface modification with SiO2 (ZrO2@SiO2 NPs) was controlled by varying the reaction time (3-54 h). The surface modification of the NPs was characterized using Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy, dynamic light scattering, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, and ellipsometry. The surface modification was monitored, and the effective layer thickness of SiO2 varied from 0.1 nm to 4.2 nm. The effective refractive index of the ZrO2@SiO2 NPs at λ = 633 nm was gradually reduced from 2.16 to 1.63. The 100 nm nanocomposite film was prepared by spin-coating the dispersion of ZrO2@SiO2 NPs in PDMS on the coverslip. The nanocomposite film prepared using ZrO2@SiO2 NPs with a reaction time of 18 h (ZrO2@SiO2-18h-PDMS) exhibited excellent optical transparency (Taverage = 91.1%), close to the transparency of the coverslip (Taverage = 91.4%) in the visible range, and an adjustable refractive index (n = 1.42-1.60) as the NP content in the film increased from 0 to 50.0 wt%.