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A bioinspired, reusable, paper-based gold-nanoparticle film is fabricated by depositing an as-prepared gold-nanoparticle thin film on airlaid paper. This paper-based system with enhanced surface roughness and low thermal conductivity exhibits increased efficiency of evaporation, scale-up potential, and proven reusability. It is also demonstrated to be potentially useful in seawater desalination.

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Plasmonic gold nanoparticles self-assembled at the air-water interface to produce an evaporative surface with local control inspired by skins and plant leaves. Fast and efficient evaporation is realized due to the instant and localized plasmonic heating at the evaporative surface. The bio-inspired evaporation process provides an alternative promising approach for evaporation, and has potential applications in sterilization, distillation, and heat transfer.

We utilize a peptide-based methodology to prepare a diverse collection of double-helical gold nanoparticle superstructures having controllable handedness and structural metrics. These materials exhibit well-defined circular dichroism signatures at visible wavelengths owing to the collective dipole–dipole interactions between the nanoparticles. We couple theory and experiment to show how tuning the metrics and structure of the helices results in predictable and tailorable chirooptical properties. Finally, we experimentally and theoretically demonstrate that the intensity, position, and nature of the chirooptical activity can be carefully adjusted via silver overgrowth. These studies illustrate the utility of peptide-based nanoparticle assembly platforms for designing and preparing complex plasmonic materials with tailorable optical properties.