Nonplanar conductive surfaces via "bottom-up" nanostructured gold coating

In situ formation and immobilization of gold nanoparticles on polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) exhibiting catalase-mimetic activity

We used needles to prepare immobilized AuNPs on the surface of PDMS in situ with catalase-mimetic activity.

Fast Dual-Stimuli-Responsive Dynamic Surface Wrinkles with High Bistability for Smart Windows and Rewritable Optical Displays

The dynamic dual-stimuli-responsive surface wrinkles on a bilayer film with high bistability are unattainable and attractive for the applications of smart windows and optical displays. Here, we report a new strategy in developing moisture and temperature dual-responsive surface wrinkles on the polyvinyl alcohol/polydimethylsiloxane (PVA/PDMS) bilayer film by rationally designing the modulus changes of the PVA skin layer upon moisture and temperature. By optimizing the thickness of the PVA layer to 4.5 μm, the as-prepared surface wrinkles show long-awaited properties, such as fast response time, excellent reversibility without degradation of optical contrast, and high light transmittance modulation, which greatly outperforms the reported surface wrinkles. Moreover, the surface wrinkles on the bilayer film remain highly bistable without additional energy consumption for more than five months in ambient room conditions both in the opaque and transparent states. These promising dual-stimuli-responsive surface wrinkles on bilayer films hold great promises for various applications triggered by moisture and temperature, such as smart windows and rewritable optical displays.

Soft Surfaces for the Reversible Control of Thin-Film Microstructure and Optical Reflectance

A micromechano-optical material is rapidly and reversibly switched between distinct states of reflectance by simply stretching and relaxing the hybrid structure. The material is fabricated and controlled by leveraging the ability of soft elastic substrates to regulate the growth and morphological evolution of a chemically deposited polycrystalline thin film.

Conductive and SERS-active colloidal gold films spontaneously formed at a liquid/liquid interface

Colloidal Au film forms at a water/pentane interface through spontaneous crystallization/reduction of water-soluble gold complex.

Photocatalytic hybrid Au/ZnO nanoparticles assembled through a one-pot method

Growth of metal domains on semiconductor nanoparticles is known to enhance their photocatalytic properties. We prepared ZnO nanoparticles decorated with metallic Au domains through a new one-pot microwave-based strategy. The synthetic route utilized microwave-heating of a mixture of only three components: Zn(2+) salt, Au(SCN)4(-) which served as a precursor for metallic gold, and Tris base. The Tris molecules had a dual role in the process, both shaping the morphology of the ZnO particles, as well as constituting docking and nucleation sites for the Au(SCN)4(-) ions. The Au complex subsequently underwent spontaneous crystallization/reduction without co-addition of reducing or stabilizing agents, yielding Au nanoparticles attached to the ZnO surface. We show that the hybrid Au/ZnO nanoparticles exhibited enhanced photocatalytic properties compared to the plain ZnO nanoparticles.