0000000000260976
AUTHOR
Adrien Girard
Mechanical Coupling in Gold Nanoparticles Supermolecules Revealed by Plasmon-Enhanced Ultralow Frequency Raman Spectroscopy
International audience; Acoustic vibrations of assemblies of gold nanoparticles were investigated using ultralow frequency micro-Raman scattering and finite element simulations. When exciting the assemblies resonantly with the surface plasmon resonance of electromagnetically coupled nano-particles, Raman spectra present an ultralow frequency band whose frequency lies below the lowest Raman active Lamb mode of single nanoparticles that was observed. This feature was ascribed to a Raman vibration mode of gold nanoparticle " supermolecules " , that is, nanoparticles mechanically coupled by surrounding polymer molecules. Its measured frequency is inversely proportional to the nanoparticle diame…
Contact laws between nanoparticles: the elasticity of a nanopowder
International audience; Studies of the mechanical contact between nanometer-scale particles provide fundamental insights into the mechanical properties of materials and the validity of contact laws at the nanoscale which are still under debate for contact surfaces approaching atomic dimensions. Using in situ Brillouin light scattering under high pressure, we show that effective medium theories successfully predict the macroscopic sound velocities in nanopowders if one takes into account the cementation of the contacts Our measurements suggest the relevance of the continuum approach and effective medium theories to describe the contact between nanoparticles of diameters as small as 4 nm, i.e…
Inelastic Light Scattering Contribution to the Study of the Onset of Sintering of a Nanopowder
International audience; The onset of the sintering of 5 nm ZrO2 and TiO2 nanoparticles is investigated by various methods including inelastic light scattering. A special attention is paid to low-frequency Raman spectra where scattering from confined acoustic vibrations and quasielastic scattering manifest. Significant changes are observed between samples sintered at different temperatures or applied forces. A detailed analysis of the spectra enables to follow the variation of the size of the nanoparticles, the surface area, and the formation of internanoparticles necks in the sintered materials. Finally, low-frequency scattering is shown to be more sensitive to the onset of sintering than m…
The mass load effect on the resonant acoustic frequencies of colloidal semiconductor nanoplatelets
Resonant acoustic modes of ultrathin CdS and CdSe colloidal nanoplatelets (NPLs) with varying thicknesses were probed using low frequency Raman scattering. The spectra are dominated by an intense band ascribed to the thickness breathing mode of the 2D nanostructures. The measured Raman frequencies show strong deviations with respect to the values expected for simple bare plates, all the more so as the thickness is reduced. The deviation is shown to arise from the additional mass of the organic ligands that are bound to the free surfaces of the nanoplatelets. The calculated eigen frequencies of vibrating platelets weighed down by the mass of the organic ligands are in very good agreement wit…
Environmental effects on the natural vibrations of nanoplatelets: a high pressure study.
International audience; Resonant acoustic modes from ultrathin CdS colloidal nanoplatelets (NPLs) are probed under high pressure using low frequency Raman spectroscopy. In particular we focus on the characterization of the recently evidenced mass load effect that is responsible for a significant downshift of the NPL breathing frequency due to the inert mass of organic ligands. We show that a key parameter in the observation of the mass effect is whether the surrounding medium is able to support THz acoustic wave propagation, at a frequency close to that of the inorganic vibrating core. At low pressures, surface organic molecules show a single particle-like behavior and a strong mass effect …