Giulia Maidecchi

Deep ultraviolet plasmon resonance in aluminum nanoparticle arrays.

Small aluminum nanoparticles have the potential to exhibit localized surface plasmon resonances in the deep ultraviolet region of the electromagnetic spectrum, however technical and scientific challenges make it difficult to attain this limit. We report the fabrication of arrays of Al/Al2O3 core/shell nanoparticles with a metallic-core diameter between 12 and 25 nm that display sharp plasmonic resonances at very high energies, up to 5.8 eV (down to λ = 215 nm). The arrays were fabricated by means of a straightforward self-organization approach. The experimental spectra were compared with theoretical calculations that allow the correlation of each feature to the corresponding plasmon modes.

Next-generation textiles: from embedded supercapacitors to lithium ion batteries

This review summarizes the cutting edge advances in the field of textile-based energy storage devices with particular emphasis on the nature and preparation of electrode materials for both supercapacitors and lithium ion batteries. Indeed, due to the overwhelming increase of the worldwide demand for high-tech products, energy storage has become one of the most up-to-date debating topics. In this regard, and considering also the well-known environmental issues often related to the fabrication of new energy products, it is important for the scientific community to develop new electrochemical energy storage systems based on eco-efficient synthetic processes and capable of serving the needs of the next generation of electronics. To this end, textile-based energy storage devices are emerging as a viable alternative to their conventional rigid counterparts. These devices have to be flexible, lightweight and should be compatible with futuristic miniaturized electronic gadgets. We have discussed how supercapacitors and Li-ion batteries are combined with textiles to realize flexible and wearable storage devices. The most important parameters, both from the electrochemical and textile points of view, have been taken into account in order to provide, as much as possible, a standard reference for comparing different kinds of textile-based energy storage devices. These parameters include electrode fibers configuration, fiber diameter, tensile strength, capacitance, charge/discharge capacity, Coulombic efficiency and capacity retention. Furthermore, in this review textile electrodes have been classified into two categories, according to the fabrication strategies: bottom-up and top-down fabrication processes. To conclude, the main aim of this review is to provide an organic outline of the recent research progress and perspectives on textile-based energy storage devices.

Optical properties of Yeast Cytochrome c monolayer on gold: an in situ spectroscopic ellipsometry investigation.

The adsorption of Yeast Cytochrome c (YCC) on well defined, flat gold substrates has been studied by Spectroscopic Ellipsometry (SE) in the 245-1000 nm wavelength range. The investigation has been performed in aqueous ambient at room temperature, focusing on monolayer-thick films. In situ δΨ and δΔ difference spectra have shown reproducibly well-defined features related to molecular optical absorptions typical of the so-called heme group. The data have been reproduced quantitatively by a simple isotropic optical model, accounting for the molecular absorption spectrum and film-substrate interface effects. The simulations allowed a reliable estimate of the film thickness and the determination of the position and the shape of the so-called Soret absorption peak that, within the experimental uncertainty, is the same found for molecules in liquid. These findings suggest that YCC preserves its native structure upon adsorption. The same optical model was able to reproduce also ex situ results on rinsed and dried samples, dominated by the spectral features associated to the polypeptide chain that tend to overwhelm the heme absorption features.

Plasmonic Color-Graded Nanosystems with Achromatic Subwavelength Architectures for Light Filtering and Advanced SERS Detection.

Plasmonic color-graded systems are devices featuring a spatially variable plasmonic response over their surface. They are widely used as nanoscale color filters; their typical size is small enough to allow integration with miniaturized electronic circuits, paving the way to realize novel nanophotonic devices. Currently, most plasmonic color-graded systems are intrinsically discrete because their chromatic response exploits the tailored plasmon resonance of microarchitectures characterized by different size or geometry for each target color. Here, we report the realization of multifunctional plasmon-graded devices where continuously graded chromatic response is achieved by smoothly tuning the composition of the resonator material while simultaneously maintaining an achromatic nanoscale geometry. The result is a new class of versatile materials: we show their application as plasmonic filters with a potential pixel size smaller than half of the exciting wavelength but also as multiplexed surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) substrates. Many more implementations, such as photovoltaic efficiency boosters or color routers, await and will benefit from the low fabrication cost and intrinsic plasmonic flexibility of the presented systems.

Broadband plasmonic response of self-organized aluminium nanowire arrays

We investigated the plasmonic response of arrays of Al nanowires fabricated in high-vacuum and embedded within a transparent protective medium. The nanostructures exhibited a strongly-birefringent plasmonic response which, depending on the mutual orientation of the incident-field polarization and the nanowire axis, allowed the plasmon resonance to span the whole spectral range from the visible to the deep-ultraviolet regime. Comparing the experimental data with theoretical calculations allowed to rationalize the optical response in terms of non-ideal nanowire morphologies arising from the bottom-up character of the nanofabrication method. The broadband plasmonic response suggests the potential application of these systems in plasmon-enhanced photovoltaics, exploiting the great advantage of the low-cost of aluminium.