Plasmonic Properties of Self-Assembled Gold Nanocrescents: Implications for Chemical Sensing

A bottom-up approach, the Langmuir-Blodgett technique, is used for the preparation of composite thin films of gold nanoparticles and polymers: poly(styrene-b-2-vinylpyridine), poly-2-vinylpyridine, and polystyrene. The self-assembly of poly(styrene-b-2-vinylpyridine) at the air-water interface leads to the formation of surface micelles, which serve as a template for the organization of gold nanoparticles into ring assemblies. By using poly-2-vinylpyridine in conjunction with low surface pressure, the distance between nanostructures can be increased, allowing for optical characterization of single nanostructures. Once deposited on a solid substrate, the preorganized gold nanoparticles are subjected to further growth by the reduction of additional gold, leading to a variety of nanostructures which can be divided into two categories: nanocrescents and circular arrays of nanoparticles. The optical properties of individual structures are investigated by optical dark-field spectroscopy and numerical calculations. The plasmonic behavior of the nanostructures is elucidated through the correlation of optical properties with structural features and the identification of dominant plasmon modes. Being based on a self-assembly approach, the reported method allows for the formation of interesting plasmonic materials under ambient conditions, at a relatively large scale, and at low cost. These attributes, in addition to the resonances located in the near-infrared region of the spectrum, make nanocrescents candidates for biological and chemical sensing.

Aggregation Behavior of the Blends of Homo-PS and PS-b-PEO-b-PS at the Air/Water Interface

Aggregation behaviors of the blended Langmuir monolayers of a homopolymer polystyrene (h-PS) and a triblock copolymer polystyrene-b-poly(ethylene oxide)-b-polystyrene (PS-b-PEO-b-PS) were studied by the Langmuir film balance technique, and the morphologies of their Langmuir-Blodgett (LB) films were studied by atomic force microscopy. The isotherms of the h-PS/PS-b-PEO-b-PS blends shift to small areas with the increase of h-PS content, and a pseudoplateau appears as h-PS content is below 60 wt %. It is worth noting that the blended isotherms appear at the left of their corresponding ideal ones, which means that the blended monolayers are a little more condensed due to attractive interactions between the two components. Hysteresis phenomena exist in all of the blended monolayers, and the higher the PS-b-PEO-b-PS content, the larger the hysteresis degree becomes because of the stronger looped-PEO entanglements. All the blended LB films of h-PS and PS-b-PEO-b-PS prepared under low pressure exhibit the mixed structures of small and large isolated circular aggregates. The small aggregates are the copolymer micelle cores and the large ones are attributed to coalescence of the local h-PS chains and some PS blocks. Upon further compression, the aggregates in the blended LB films become a little denser as h-PS content is below 60 wt %, whereas those become totally close-packed with decreased size as h-PS content is 80 wt %.

Blending Mechanism of PS- b-PEO and PS Homopolymer at the Air/Water Interface and Their Morphological Control

We report a blending mechanism of polystyrene- b-poly(ethylene oxide) (PS- b-PEO) and PS homopolymer (homoPS) at the air/water interface. Our blending mechanism is completely different from the well-known "wet-dry brush theory" for bulk blends; regardless of the size of homoPS, the domain size increased and the morphology changed without macrophase separation, whereas the homoPS of small molecular weight (MW) leads to a transition after blending into the block copolymer domains, and the large MW homoPS is phase-separated in bulk. The difference in blending mechanism at the interface is attributed to adsorption kinetics at a water/spreading solvent interface. Upon spreading, PS- b-PEO is rapidly adsorbed to the water/spreading solvent interface and forms domain first, and then homoPS accumulates on them as the solvent completely evaporates. On the basis of our proposed mechanism, we demonstrate that rapid PS- b-PEO adsorption is crucial to determine the final morphology of the blends. We additionally found that spreading preformed self-assemblies of the blends slowed down the adsorption, causing them to behave similar to bulk blends, following the "wet-dry brush theory". This new mechanism provides useful information for various block copolymer-homopolymer blending systems with large fluid/fluid interfaces such as emulsions and foams.

Influence of gold species (AuCl4−and AuCl2−) on self-assembly of PS-b-P2VP in solutions and morphology of composite thin films fabricated at the air/liquid interfaces

A new and facile approach was developed to fabricate functional composite films of block copolymers at the air/liquid interface through a self-emulsification, self-assembly and adsorption process.

Aggregation behavior of the blends of PS-b-PEO-b-PS and PS-b-PMMA at the air/water interface

Upon compression, large close-packed aggregates in the mixed LB films split into small uniform ones. Hysteresis degree can be interpreted with chain entanglement and block mobility.

Effect of selective solvent on the aggregate behavior of the mixed Langmuir monolayers of PS-b-PEO and PS-b-PMMA

An interesting way to control morphology evolution in the mixed LB films was performed by mainly using a selective spreading solvent. Furthermore, a peculiar hysteresis phenomenon in the polymeric Langmuir monolayers is reported.

Pressure induced structure formation in Langmuir monolayers of amphiphilic metallocene diblock copolymers

We present in situ structural investigations of a metal-containing diblock copolymer on a water surface. Monolayers of poly(vinylferrocene-b-(2-vinylpyridine)) (PVFc-b-P2VP) block copolymers are studied in a wide range of compositions by varying molar masses of P2VP with two different molecular weights of PVFc. We focus on the role of the respective block partners, PVFc and P2VP, when compressing the layer on the water surface. Compression isotherms are presented and interpreted in terms of the classical gaseous, expanded, and condensed phases. We calculate isothermal compressibilities, which reveal a minimum value independent of the molar masses of the respective block partners. We find the isotherms to be dominated by P2VP while PVFc barely contribute to the compression behavior due to its rather compact coil structure. We consider the diblock copolymer monolayers as a two-dimensional model system, which is reflected by two-dimensional scaling behavior in the semi dilute and condensed regime. By X-ray reflectometry (XR), we monitor in situ the monolayer structure change with increasing surface pressure Π and observe the PVFc-b-P2VP separation at high Π.

Strands, networks, and continents from polystyrene dewetting at the air-water interface: implications for amphiphilic block copolymer self-assembly

We demonstrate that nanoscale aggregates similar to those formed via amphiphilic block copolymer self-assembly at the air-water interface, including strands, networks, and continents, can be generated by the simple spreading of PS homopolymer solutions on water. Two different PS homopolymers of different molecular weight (PS-405k, M(n) = 405 000 g mol(-1) and PS-33k, M(n) = 33 000 g mol(-1)) are spread at the air-water interface at various spreading concentrations ranging from 0.25 to 3.0 mg/mL. Aggregate formation is driven by PS dewetting from water as the spreading solvent evaporates. We propose that a high spreading concentration or a high molecular weight lead to chain entanglements that restrict macromolecular mobility in the solution, enabling the kinetic trapping of nanostructures associated with early and intermediate stages of PS dewetting. Comparison of PS-405k with a mainly hydrophobic PS-b-PEO block copolymer of similar molecular weight (PSEO-392k, M(n) = 392 000 g mol(-1), 2.0 wt % PEO) allows the effect of a relatively short surface active block on aggregate formation to be investigated. We show that whereas the PEO block is not a required component for the formation of strands and other nonglobular aggregates, it does increase the number of these aggregates at a given spreading concentration and decreases the minimum spreading concentration at which these aggregates are observed, along with decreasing the dimensions and polydispersity of specific surface features. The results provide supporting evidence for the role of PS dewetting in the generation of multiple PS-b-PEO aggregate morphologies at the air-water interface, as originally described in earlier paper from our group.