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Nano Research 2023, 16(7): 10131-10138 https://doi.org/10.1007/s12274-023-5492-6
Research Article | Issue | Published: 13 March 2023

Large-scale controllable fabrication of aluminum nanobowls for surface plasmon-enhanced fluorescence

Show Author's Information Yawen Wang1,§,  Heng Gao1,§,  Yuanlan Liu1,  Dong Li1,  Bo Zhao1,  Wenkai Liang1,  Yinghui Sun2( ),  Lin Jiang1( )
Institute of Functional Nano and Soft Materials (FUNSOM), Jiangsu Key Laboratory for Carbon-Based Functional Materials & Devices, Soochow University, Suzhou 215123, China
College of Energy, Soochow Institute for Energy and Materials Innovations and Key Laboratory of Advanced Carbon Materials and Wearable Energy Technologies of Jiangsu Province, Soochow University, Suzhou 215006, China

§ Yawen Wang and Heng Gao contributed equally to this work.

Keywords:
localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR), fluorescence enhancement, Al nanoparticles, controllable size, large-area fabrication
Topics:
Photoelectric devices
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Wang Y, Gao H, Liu Y, et al. Large-scale controllable fabrication of aluminum nanobowls for surface plasmon-enhanced fluorescence. Nano Research, 2023, 16(7): 10131-10138. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12274-023-5492-6
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Abstract Full text Electronic supplementary material About this article

Al nanoparticles (NPs) exhibit excellent localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR) properties and have been considered a promising alternative to plasmonic Au or Ag NPs. However, it remains difficult to fabricate Al NPs with uniform size and controllable morphology over a large area on substrates, which seriously hinders the in-depth exploration of their properties and applications. Herein, we have developed a self-assembly nanoparticle template method to realize the controllable preparation of bowl-shaped Al NPs (Al nanobowls (Al NBs)) with tunable sizes from 36 to 131 nm on the substrate surface, accompanied by tunable LSPR spectral responses from 272 to 480 nm. Among them, 131 nm Al NBs exhibit superior fluorescence enhancement ability (1932.2-fold) and a low detection limit (78.6 pM) towards 5-carboxyfluorescein, exceeding comparable Ag NBs and Au nanospheres (NSs). This can be attributed to the strong electromagnetic enhancement induced by the LSPR effect and the effective inhibition of fluorescence quenching caused by the self-passivated oxide layer. Therefore, the successful fabrication of Al NBs on substrates is of vital significance for their promising applications, including surface-enhanced spectroscopy, sensitive fluorescence detection, light-harvesting devices, biosensing, and ultraviolet (UV) plasmonics.


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Abstract
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Electronic supplementary material
About this article

Large-scale controllable fabrication of aluminum nanobowls for surface plasmon-enhanced fluorescence

Show Author's information Yawen Wang1,§, Heng Gao1,§, Yuanlan Liu1, Dong Li1, Bo Zhao1, Wenkai Liang1, Yinghui Sun2( ), Lin Jiang1( )
Institute of Functional Nano and Soft Materials (FUNSOM), Jiangsu Key Laboratory for Carbon-Based Functional Materials & Devices, Soochow University, Suzhou 215123, China
College of Energy, Soochow Institute for Energy and Materials Innovations and Key Laboratory of Advanced Carbon Materials and Wearable Energy Technologies of Jiangsu Province, Soochow University, Suzhou 215006, China

§ Yawen Wang and Heng Gao contributed equally to this work.

Abstract

Al nanoparticles (NPs) exhibit excellent localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR) properties and have been considered a promising alternative to plasmonic Au or Ag NPs. However, it remains difficult to fabricate Al NPs with uniform size and controllable morphology over a large area on substrates, which seriously hinders the in-depth exploration of their properties and applications. Herein, we have developed a self-assembly nanoparticle template method to realize the controllable preparation of bowl-shaped Al NPs (Al nanobowls (Al NBs)) with tunable sizes from 36 to 131 nm on the substrate surface, accompanied by tunable LSPR spectral responses from 272 to 480 nm. Among them, 131 nm Al NBs exhibit superior fluorescence enhancement ability (1932.2-fold) and a low detection limit (78.6 pM) towards 5-carboxyfluorescein, exceeding comparable Ag NBs and Au nanospheres (NSs). This can be attributed to the strong electromagnetic enhancement induced by the LSPR effect and the effective inhibition of fluorescence quenching caused by the self-passivated oxide layer. Therefore, the successful fabrication of Al NBs on substrates is of vital significance for their promising applications, including surface-enhanced spectroscopy, sensitive fluorescence detection, light-harvesting devices, biosensing, and ultraviolet (UV) plasmonics.

Keywords: localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR), fluorescence enhancement, Al nanoparticles, controllable size, large-area fabrication

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Publication history
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Acknowledgements

Publication history

Received: 07 November 2022
Revised: 10 January 2023
Accepted: 11 January 2023
Published: 13 March 2023
Issue date: July 2023

Copyright

© Tsinghua University Press 2023

Acknowledgements

Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Nos. 22072104 and 21822202) and Suzhou Key Laboratory of Surface and Interface Intelligent Matter (No. SZS2022011). This is also a project funded by Suzhou Key Laboratory of Functional Nano & Soft Materials, Collaborative Innovation Center of Suzhou Nano Science & Technology, the 111 Project, Joint International Research Laboratory of Carbon-Based Functional Materials and Devices.

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