Angular-Dependent Metal-Enhanced Fluorescence from Silver Island Films

Nonlinear Optical Properties and Cytotoxicity Studies of Fruit Extract Synthesized Silver and Gold Nanostructures

Eco-friendlybiosynthesis of silver nanoparticles (Ag NPs) and gold (Au NPs) nanoparticles by using Punica granatum and C. reticulata extracts were synthesized efficiently. Ag and Au NPs with sizes 8–10 nm and 30–40 nm were successfully synthesized and extracts serve as capping agents. Forming of NPs was confirmed through UV-visible spectra, transmission electron microscopy (TEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD) and Fourier transform infrared spectra (FTIR) studies. The effect of NPs on the luminescence of Eu(TTFA)3 and Sm(TTFA)3 complexes was investigated. Luminescence intensities of the complexes were enhanced several times in the presence of silver and get quenched due to reabsorption of Au NPs. The nonlinear optical properties of NPs were calculated using open aperture Z-scan and degenerate four-wave mixing in the femtosecond region. The toxicity and antimicrobial activities of Ag and Au NPs were studied.

Metal-Enhanced Fluorescence of Silver Island Associated with Silver Nanoparticle

The coupling plasmon of a hybrid nanostructure, silver island (SI) associated with silver nanoparticle (SNP), on metal-enhanced fluorescence (MEF) was studied theoretically. We used the multiple multipole method to analyze the plasmon-mediated enhancement factor on the fluorescence of a molecule immobilized on SNP and located in the gap zone between SI and SNP; herein, the SI was modeled as an oblate spheroid. Numerical results show that the enhancement factor of the hybrid nanostructure is higher than that of a SNP or a SI alone due to the coupled gap mode. This finding is in agreement with the previous experimental results. In addition, the plasmon band of the structure is broadband and tunable, which can be red-shifted and broadened by flattening or enlarging SI. Based on this property, the hybrid nanostructure can be tailored to obtain the optimal enhancement factor on a specific molecule according to its excitation spectrum. Moreover, we found that there is an induced optical force allowing SNP be attracted by SI. Consequently, the gap is reduced gradually to perform a stronger MEF effect.

Enlightening surface plasmon resonance effect of metal nanoparticles for practical spectroscopic application

Pictorial depiction of applications of metal nanoparticles in different fields enlightening surface plasmon resonance effect.

Sandwich type plasmonic platform for MEF using silver fractals

In this report, we describe a plasmonic platform with silver fractals for metal enhanced fluorescence (MEF) measurements. When a dye containing surface was brought into contact with silver fractals, a significantly enhanced fluorescence signal from the dye was observed. Fluorescence enhancement was studied with the N-methyl-azadioxatriangulenium chloride salt (Me-ADOTA·Cl) in PVA films made from 0.2% PVA (w/v) solution spin-coated on a clean glass coverslip. The Plasmonic Platforms (PP) were assembled by pressing together silver fractals on one glass slide and a separate glass coverslip spin-coated with a uniform Me-ADOTA·Cl in PVA film. In addition, we also tested ADOTA labeled human serum albumin (HSA) deposited on a glass slide for potential PP bioassay applications. Using the new PP, we could achieve more than a 20-fold fluorescence enhancement (bright spots) accompanied by a decrease in the fluorescence lifetime. The experimental results were used to calculate the extinction (excitation) enhancement factor (GA) and fluorescence radiative rate enhancements factor (GF). No change in emission spectrum was observed for a dye with or without contact with fractals. Our studies indicate that this type of PP can be a convenient approach for constructing assays utilizing metal enhanced fluorescence (MEF) without the need for depositing the material directly on metal structures platforms.

Co-enhancement of fluorescence and singlet oxygen generation by silica-coated gold nanorods core-shell nanoparticle

Metal-enhanced fluorescence (MEF) as a newly recognized technology has been attracting considerable attention and is widely used in fluorescence-based technology. In this paper, we reported a novel distance-dependent MEF and metal-enhanced singlet oxygen generation phenomenon based on silica-coated gold nanorods (AuNRs@SiO2) core-shell structure with tetra-substituted carboxyl aluminum phthalocyanine (AlC4Pc) that serve as both fluorophore and photosensitizer. When the AlC4Pc was linked on the surface of AuNRs@SiO2, the fluorescence intensity and singlet oxygen productivity varied with the thickness difference of silica shell from 2.1 to 28.6 nm. The co-enhancement effect reached the maximum of 7-fold and 2.1-fold, respectively, when the separation distance was 10.6 nm. These unique characteristics make the prepared core-shell nanoparticles promising for MEF-based biological imaging and photodynamics therapy.

Quantitative Comparison of Protein Surface Coverage on Glass Slides and Silver Island Films in Metal-Enhanced Fluorescence-based Biosensing Applications

The use of Metal-Enhanced Fluorescence (MEF) phenomenon in fluorescence-based bioassays affords for increased sensitivity to be realized by incorporating metal nanoparticles onto planar surfaces. The close-range interactions of metal-fluorophores result in increased fluorescence emission from the bioassays, which in turn affords for the detection of target biomolecules at lower concentrations. Moreover, the use of silver nanoparticles increases the photostability of fluorophores improving the detectability of fluorescence emission under prolonged use of excitation light. Although numerous reports on MEF-based biosensing applications exist, the contribution of protein coverage on Silver Island Films (SIFs) on the increased fluorescence emission was never investigated. This work presents our findings on the quantitative comparison of protein surface coverage on SIFs and blank glass slides. In this regard, identical protein bioassay for a model protein (biotinylated bovine serum albumin, b-BSA) on these surfaces is constructed and the relative extent of protein surface coverage on SIFs and blank glass slides was determined using radio-labeled biomolecules. It was found that the total scintillation counts on SIFs and blank glass slides were similar for BSA concentrations ranging from 1 μM to 1 pM, which implies that increased fluorescence in MEF-based biosensing applications is only due to metal-fluorophore interactions.

Radiative rate enhancements in ensembles of hybrid metal-semiconductor nanostructures

We report on radiative decay rate modifications of dipole emitters in the proximity of anisotropic metal nanostructures. Using time, angle, and polarization resolved photoluminescence spectroscopy, we show that resonant interactions between surface plasmons in gold nanodisks and excitons in semiconductor nanocrystals require both spectral and orientational overlap resulting in radiative rate enhancements with directional characteristics. Numerical simulations of emission decay dynamics based on local electric field enhancements are in excellent agreement with experimental results.