Plasmonic Glasses and Films Based on Alternative Inexpensive Materials for Blocking Infrared Radiation

Abstract

The need for energy-saving materials is pressing. This Letter reports on the design of energy-saving glasses and films based on plasmonic nanocrystals that efficiently block infrared radiation. Designing such plasmonic composite glasses is nontrivial and requires taking full advantage of both material and geometrical properties of the nanoparticles. We compute the performance of solar plasmonic glasses incorporating a transparent matrix and specially shaped nanocrystals. This performance depends on the shape and material of such nanocrystals. Glasses designed with plasmonic nanoshells are shown to exhibit overall better performances as compared to nanorods and nanocups. Simultaneously, scalable synthesis of plasmonic nanoshells and nanocups is technologically feasible using gas-phase fabrication methods. The computational simulations were performed for noble metals (gold and silver) as well as for alternative plasmonic materials (aluminum, copper, and titanium nitride). Inexpensive plasmonic materials (silver, copper, aluminum, and titanium nitride) show an overall good performance in terms of the commonly used figures of merit of industrial glass windows. Together with numerical data for specific materials, this study includes a set of general rules for designing efficient plasmonic IR-blocking media. The plasmonic glasses proposed herein are good candidates for the creation of cheap optical media, to be used in energy-saving windows in warm climates' housing or temperature-sensitive infrastructure.

Hybrid Plasmonic–Aerogel Materials as Optical Superheaters with Engineered Resonances

“…However, the same concept could be used not only to achieve adifferent wavelength with the LSPR, but also to efficiently cover aw ide spectral range by using avariety of AuNR aspect ratios or even geometries in the same sample. [49][50][51] TheA uNR-Al 2 O 3 aerogel was excited with different power densities to understand how its heating capabilities scale in circumstances akin to those of as olar concentrator.T he resulting heat was monitored with at hermal imaging camera in form of temperature-time curves.Asummary of the temperature-time curves and the dependence of the temperature increase on the excitation energy is shown in Figure 3.…”

Hybrid Plasmonic–Aerogel Materials as Optical Superheaters with Engineered Resonances

“…To generate heat efficiently in our experimental setup with a low density of AuNRs, we have adjusted their aspect ratio to match their LSPR frequency with that of the optical source, with a wavelength of 650 nm. However, the same concept could be used not only to achieve a different wavelength with the LSPR, but also to efficiently cover a wide spectral range by using a variety of AuNR aspect ratios or even geometries in the same sample . The AuNR‐Al 2 O 3 aerogel was excited with different power densities to understand how its heating capabilities scale in circumstances akin to those of a solar concentrator.…”

“…However, the same concept could be used not only to achieve adifferent wavelength with the LSPR, but also to efficiently cover aw ide spectral range by using avariety of AuNR aspect ratios or even geometries in the same sample. [49][50][51] TheA uNR-Al 2 O 3 aerogel was excited with different power densities to understand how its heating capabilities scale in circumstances akin to those of as olar concentrator.T he resulting heat was monitored with at hermal imaging camera in form of temperature-time curves.Asummary of the temperature-time curves and the…”

Design and realization of light absorbers using plasmonic nanoparticles

“…In the articles presented by Y. Qin et al [125] and L.V. Besteiro et al [126], the authors use a hexagonal matrix of polystyrene latex spherical nanoparticles (PSL) assembled on a flat silicon substrate. They first perform a reactive ion etching (RIE) process to tune the PSL shape, followed by a magnetron sputtering process of a thin copper or aluminum layer, covering the PSL.…”