Nanocomposites and nanomaterials

Reconfigurable plasmonic systems based on liquid crystalline nanoparticles
M. Tupikowska1, M. Bagiński1, G. González-Rubio2, W. Lewandowski1

1 University of Warsaw, Faculty of Chemistry, 
Pasteur Street 1, 02-093 Warsaw , Poland
E-mail address: mtupikowska@chem.uw.edu.pl
2 BioNanoPlasmonic Laboratory, CIC ciomaGUNE, 
Paseo de Miramón 182, 20014 San Sebastian, Spain

Noble metal nanoparticles show remarkable optical properties depending on the type of material from which they are made, size, shape or distance between nanoparticles, i.e. their spatial arrangement. Internal long-range organization, switchability and potential technological applications make liquid crystals ideal candidates for manipulating the self-assembly of nanoparticles into more complex crystallographic structures. 
The main aim of this research is to obtain new types of self-assembly of plasmonic nanoparticles coated with promesogenic ligands with the use of various types of ligands and helical, liquid crystal matrices. Achieving this goal is possible thanks to the synthesis of nanoparticles and the introduction of promesogenic ligands onto their surface. The liquid crystal nanoparticles thus obtained are mixed with suitably designed liquid crystal matrices or additional organic molecules. Obtained results indicate the possibility of preparing switchable optical/chiro-optical systems in the visible range with potential application in non-linear optics, biosensors or (chiral) metamaterials. [1,2]

The research is conducted under Reinforce project  carried out within the First Team programme of the Foundation for Polish Science co-financed by the European Union under the European Regional Development Fund. 

1. Lewandowski, W., et al. Shaping Liquid Crystals with Gold Nanoparticles: Helical Assemblies with Tunable and Hierarchical Structures Via Thin‐Film Cooperative Interactions // Adv. Mater, -2020. -32. -P. 1904581.
2. Lewandowski, W., et al. Understanding and Controlling the Crystallization Process in Reconfigurable Plasmonic Superlattices // ACS Nano, -2021, -15, 3, -P. 4916–4926.