Nanocomposites and nanomaterials

Self-assembly of plasmonic nanoparticles in supramolecural gels
Dominika Niewczas1, Martyna Tupikowska1, Wiktor Lewandowski1
1 Faculty of Chemistry, University of Warsaw, Pasteur Street 1, 02-093 Warsaw, Poland
E-mail address: d.niewczas2@student.uw.edu.pl

	Nanoparticles constitute a considerable field of research in today’s world. Their unusual properties combined with their really small sizes ranging from 1nm to 100 nm distinguish them from bulk materials. One of the most interesting phenomena related to nanoparticles is localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR), which describes the influence of electromagnetic waves on nanoobjects. What is more, to achieve superior optical properties caused by LSPR, we can self-assembly nanoparticles in highly ordered structures. Collective oscillation, resulted from near proximity of nanoparticles, cause new proprieties of self-assembled materials. One type of self-assembled structures studied by our group is helical hybrid materials created from gold nanoparticles and liquid crystal matrix.[1]
	A new idea for achieving these helical structures is a change of liquid crystal matrix into supramolecular gels, which are known to self-assembly in helical systems.[2] My work focuses on the synthesis of monodisperse, spherical, gold nanoparticles, which exhibit plasmonic properties connected with LSPR. Additionally, I am investigating the synthesis of chemical compounds which can form supramolecular gels. And finally, I will try to combine achieved gold nanoparticles and chiral matrix made from gels into helical systems. At each stage of research, techniques such as transmission electron microscopy (TEM), small angle x-ray scattering (SAXS) and UV-Vis spectroscopy are used.

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.	Bagiński, M., Tupikowska, M., González-Rubio, G., Wójcik, M. & Lewandowski, W. Shaping Liquid Crystals with Gold Nanoparticles: Helical Assemblies with Tunable and Hierarchical Structures Via Thin-Film Cooperative Interactions. Adv. Mater. 32, 1–11 (2020).
2.	Shen, Z. et al. Asymmetric catalysis mediated by a mirror symmetry-broken helical nanoribbon. Nat. Commun. 1–8 (2019) doi:10.1038/s41467-019-11840-3.