Plasmonic nano-additives for polymer composites: Preservation of tailored functionality

• Main Authors: Boyne, Devon A., Orlicki, Joshua A., Griep, Mark H.
• Format: Conference Proceeding
• Language: English
• Subjects: Additives; Gold; Nanomaterials; Nanoparticles; Plasmons; Polymers; Silicon compounds
• ISSN: 1944-9380
• DOI: 10.1109/NANO.2017.8117362

The transition of highly functional nanomaterials into scalable composite manufacturing processes often leads to the deterioration of the desired nanomaterial properties. In this work, selective coating methodologies are employed to protect optically-tailored nanoplasmonic materials against the high temperature/high shear environments associated with extrusion and injection molded polymer nanocomposites. Optically tuned plasmonic nanomaterials including silver nanoplates, gold nanorods, gold nanostars, and noble metal shells have been produced with tailored resonances across the visible and nIR spectrum. Protective coatings are created on the materials, including PEG, polymer stabilizers, and silica shells, to enhance the survivability of the nanomaterial's morphology/physical properties during high-stress processing conditions. The stability and thermal effects of the processing on the additives is fully investigated, and the methods are optimized to allow for the creation of plasmonic polymer nanocomposites that preserve their tailored resonance properties at elevated processing temperatures. An additional focus will be presented towards coupling the plasmon energy to hybridized RAMAN tags and chromophore molecules in the developed composites.