Nghiem Thi Ha Lien

Close-packed monolayer self-assembly of silica nanospheres assisted by infrared irradiation

In this paper, we report on a fast and cost-effective drop coating technique for the self-assembly of silica nano-spheres from a mono-dispersed colloidal suspension into close-packed monolayer (CMP) on hydrophilic single-crystal silicon substrate. The technique includes the self-assembly of silica nano-spheres on slanted silicon substrate and infrared irradiation during evaporation process of the coated droplet. The influence of the substrate slant angle and infrared irradiation on the formation of silica nano-sphere monolayer is investigated. This achievement is promising for various applications, such as a mask layer for nano-sphere lithography that is employed for producing fundamental elements in photonics, plasmonics, and solar cell.

Electrochemical Fabrication of Hybrid Plasmonic-dielectric Nanomaterial Based on Gold-diamond Clusters

Hybrid plasmonic-dielectric materials were fabricated by micro-discharge through water sols of sub-micrometer-sized diamonds mixed with HAuCl4 acid. Primary characterization of their deposits on a silicon wafer surface by means of electron microscopy and energy-dispersive x-ray spectroscopy indicate close proximity of gold nanoparticles and diamond particles, which is supported by photoluminescence studies demonstrating strong – almost two-fold – damping of diamond luminescence owing to the attachment of gold nanoparticles. UV-near IR spectroscopy of their sols consistently exhibits small red spectral shifts for the fabricated nanomaterials, comparing to bare gold nanoparticles.

Detection of polychlorinated biphenyls in transformer oils in Vietnam by multiphoton ionization mass spectrometry using a far-ultraviolet femtosecond laser as an ionization source

Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) in transformer and food oils were measured using gas chromatography combined with multiphoton ionization mass spectroscopy. An ultrashort laser pulse emitting in the far-ultraviolet region was utilized for efficient ionization of the analytes. Numerous signal peaks were clearly observed for a standard sample mixture of PCBs when the third and fourth harmonic emissions (267 and 200nm) of a femtosecond Ti:sapphire laser (800nm) were employed. The signal intensities were found to be greater when measured at 200nm compared with those measured at 267nm, providing lower detection limits especially for highly chlorinated PCBs at shorter wavelengths. After simple pretreatment using disposable columns, PCB congeners were measured and found to be present in the transformer oils used in Vietnam.

Synthesis and Optical Properties of Colloidal Gold Nanoparticles for Biomedical Applications

The gold nanoparticle solutions are well known as an extremely sensitive biomedical analytical tool due to the strong dependence of their absorption in the visible range on the environment. In this work, the colloidal nano golds were synthesized from metal precursor chloroauric acid (HAuCl4) using trisodium citrate dehydrate (C6H5O7Na3) as reducing and stabilizing agents. The optical characterization absorption of colloidal gold solution have been investigated under the different synthetic conditions such as: reducing agent concentration, concentration of auric ion, pH, duration of reaction and aging time. The results show that the absorption and the stability of the colloidal gold nanoparticles depend robustly on the synthetic conditions and pH of environment.

Near‐Infrared Photothermal Response of Plasmonic Gold‐Coated Nanoparticles in Tissues

We propose a new approach to understand the time-dependent temperature increasing process of gold-silica core-shell nanoparticles injected into chicken tissues under near-infrared laser irradiation. Gold nanoshells strongly absorb near-infrared radiations and efficiently transform absorbed energy into heat. Temperature rise given by experiments and numerical calculations based on bioheat transfer are in good agreement. Our work improves the analysis of a recent study [Richardson et al., Nano Lett. 9, 1139 (2009)] by including effects of the medium perfusion on temperature increase. The theoretical analysis can also be used to estimate the distribution of nanoparticles in experimental samples and provide a relative accuracy prediction for the temperature profile of new systems. This methodology would provide a novel and reliable tool for speeding up photothermal investigations and designing state-of-the-art photothermal devices.

Multilayered Plasmonic Nanostructures for Solar Energy Harvesting

Optical properties of core–shell–shell Au@SiO2@Au nanostructures and their solar energy harvesting applications are theoretically investigated using Mie theory and heat-transfer equations. The theoretical analysis associated with size-dependent modification of the bulk gold dielectric function agrees well with previous experimental results. We use the appropriate absorption cross section to determine the solar energy absorption efficiency of the nano-heterostructures, which is strongly structure-dependent, and to predict the time-dependent temperature increase of the nanoshell solution under simulated solar irradiation. Comparisons to prior temperature measurements and theoretical evaluation of the solar power conversion efficiency are discussed to provide new insights into underlying mechanisms. Our approach would accelerate materials and structure testing in solar energy harvesting.

Spectral evolution of distributed feedback laser of gold nanoparticles doped solid-state dye laser medium

Characteristics of suppressed relaxation oscillation of a distributed feedback dye laser (DFDL) based on the energy transfer process in a mixture of spherical gold nanoparticles-doped solid-state polymethylmetacrylate dissolved 4-(Dicyanomethylene)-2-methyl-6-(4-dimethylaminostyryl)-4H-pyran dye was theoretically and experimentally studied. Single pulse generation regime of the DFDL can be obtained with a suitable gold nanoparticle concentration and ratio of pump power over lasing threshold. Numerical analysis and experimental approach showed that in this regime, the first-pulse laser pulsewidth is rather unchanged while varying the gold nanoparticles concentration in the range of 2.0 × 109–2.0 × 1010 par cm−3. The enhancement of first pulse and the suppression of the secondary pulses by bi-direction energy transfer of spherical gold nanoparticles were experimentally observed.

Theranostic Gold Nanoshells: from Synthesis to Imaging and Photothermal Therapy Applications

Gold nanoshells (GNSs) were grown on monodispersed aminoprotpyltriethoxysilane (APTES) functionalized of silica nanoparticles (NPs) cores with varying sizes ranging from 40-180 nm synthesized by Stober route. Gold shells were deposited onto the surface of silica NPs by tetrakis(hydroxymethyl) phosphonium chloride (THPC) and electroless gold plating method. The coverage of the gold nanoshells on the surfaces of the silica NPs was evaluated using UV-VIS/NIR spectrospcopy and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The plasmon resonance wavelengths of these gold nanoshells were tunable from visible to near infrared region. The GNSs were also bioconjugated with anti-HER2 monoclonal antibody for diagnostic breast cancer cells using dark field microscope technique. These GNS NPs play a role as nanoheaters transforming light to heat. With the present of these GNS NPs at volume density of 3.6×1010 NPs.cm3 in chicken tissue samples, illuminated by 808 nm laser at the power density of 62 W.cm2 the temperature of tissue sample reachs 110 ̊ C after 20 minutes illumination.

Synthesis and Optical Characterization of Dye Doped in Ormosil Nanospheres for Bioapplications

Dye-doped ORMOSIL (organically modified silicate) nanoparticles (NPs) have significant advantages over single-dye labeling in signal amplification, photostability and surface modification for various biological applications. The dyes: Rhodamine 6G (R6G) and Rhodamine B (RB) were successfully incorporated into ORMOSIL nanoparticles fabricated by micellar nanochemistry from Trimethoxysilane CH3Si(OCH3)3 precursor. The optical characterization of dye-doped ORMOSIL NPs was studied in comparison with its of free dye in solution. The results shown that the photostability of ORMOSIL dye doped nanospheres is much improved in comparison with its of dye in solution. Other studies of the photophysical properties such as anisotropy, fluorescence lifetime and energy transfer were also done.