Gold nanoshells, a material generally composed of a core of silica surrounded by
a thin shell of gold, are of great interest due to their unique and tunable optical properties.
By varying the shell thickness and core size, the absorption and scattering properties are
greatly enhanced. The nanoshells can be made to absorb or scatter light at various
regions across the electromagnetic spectrum, from visible to the near infrared. The
ability to tune the optical properties of nanoshells allows for their potential use in many
different areas of research such as optical imaging, tumor ablation, drug delivery, and
solar energy conversion. The research in this thesis focused on the synthesis and
characterization of two novel gold nanoshell materials containing thermally-responsive,
organic-inorganic hybrid layers. One type of material was based on a two-layer particle
with a thermally responsive hybrid core of N-isopropylacrylamide (NIPAM)
copolymerized with 3-(trimethoxysilyl)propyl methacrylate (MPS) that was then coated
with a thin layer of gold. The second material was a three-layer particle with a silica
core, a thermally responsive copolymer of NIPAM and MPS middle layer and an outer
shell of gold. Various techniques were used to characterize both materials. Transmission
electron microscopy (TEM) was used to image the particles and dynamic light scattering
(DLS) was used to determine particle size and the temperature response. Additionally,
UV-Vis spectroscopy was used to characterize the optical properties as a function of
temperature.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:USF/oai:scholarcommons.usf.edu:etd-4837 |
| Date | 23 June 2010 |
| Creators | Peterson, Alisha D. |
| Publisher | Scholar Commons |
| Source Sets | University of South Flordia |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | text |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Source | Graduate Theses and Dissertations |
| Rights | default |
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