Colloidal Synthesis of Crystalline Aluminum Nanoparticles for UV Plasmonics

TL;DR

This paper presents a scalable chemical synthesis method for producing crystalline aluminum nanoparticles with controlled sizes, suitable for UV plasmonics, demonstrating stable, well-defined optical resonances.

Contribution

A novel, scalable synthesis process for crystalline aluminum nanoparticles with controlled sizes suitable for UV plasmonic applications.

Findings

Produced size-controlled crystalline Al nanoparticles from commercial foils

Achieved stable UV and visible plasmonic resonances on single nanoparticles

Method is fully scalable and does not require catalysts

Abstract

Numerous applications of nanotechnologies rely on the wide availability of high-quality crystalline nanoparticles (NPs). Although the chemical synthesis of noble metal nanoparticles (gold and silver) is well mastered, pushing the optical response of metallic nanoparticles towards the ultraviolet requires other materials, such as aluminum. Although a few demonstrations of chemical synthesis of Al nanoparticles have been reported so far, an elaboration path allowing for a wide range of NP size that is compatible with mass production has yet to be demonstrated. In this article, we report on the production of spherical, size-controlled crystalline Al NPs starting from commercial Al foils and without the use of a catalyst. The proposed method combines sonochemistry with solvochemistry and is fully up-scalable. The obtained NPs have a 10-100 nm crystalline Al core surrounded by a thin alumina shell, allowing long-term stability in ethanol. Well-defined plasmonic resonances in the UV and visible ranges are experimentally evidenced on single nanoparticles.