122 research outputs found
Toward a quantitative model for suspended particle devices: optical scattering and absorption coefficients
Suspended particle devices (SPDs) allow rapid voltage-controlled modulation of their optical transmittance and are of interest for solar-energy-related and other applications. We investigated the spectral total and diffuse transmittance of an SPD, including its angular dependence. The optical modulation was large for visible light but almost nil in the infrared, and the devices had noticeable haze. A theoretical two-flux model was formulated and provided a quantitative description of the absorption and scattering coefficients and thereby of the detailed optical performance. This analysis gives a benchmark for assessing improvements of the SPD technology as well as for comparing it with alternative technologies for optical modulation.This work was supported in part by the Comunidad de Madrid (FACTOTEM2-CM, S2009/ESP-1781).Publicad
Nanophotothermolysis of Poly-(vinyl) Alcohol Capped Silver Particles
Laser-induced thermal fusion and fragmentation of poly-(vinyl) alcohol (PVA)-capped silver nanoparticles in aqueous medium have been reported. PVA-capped silver nanoparticles with an average size of 15 nm were prepared by chemical reduction technique. The laser-induced photo-fragmentation of these particles has been monitored by UV-visible spectroscopy and transmission electron microscopy. The morphological changes induced by thermal and photochemical effects were found to influence the optical properties of these nanoparticles
Coalescence of nanoscale metal clusters: Molecular-dynamics study
We study the coalescence of nanoscale metal clusters in an inert-gas
atmosphere using constant-energy molecular dynamics. The coalescence proceeds
via atomic diffusion with the release of surface energy raising the
temperature. If the temperature exceeds the melting point of the coalesced
cluster, a molten droplet forms. If the temperature falls between the melting
point of the larger cluster and those of the smaller clusters, a metastable
molten droplet forms and freezes.Comment: 5 figure
Structure Formation, Melting, and the Optical Properties of Gold/DNA Nanocomposites: Effects of Relaxation Time
We present a model for structure formation, melting, and optical properties
of gold/DNA nanocomposites. These composites consist of a collection of gold
nanoparticles (of radius 50 nm or less) which are bound together by links made
up of DNA strands. In our structural model, the nanocomposite forms from a
series of Monte Carlo steps, each involving reaction-limited cluster-cluster
aggregation (RLCA) followed by dehybridization of the DNA links. These links
form with a probability which depends on temperature and particle
radius . The final structure depends on the number of monomers (i. e. gold
nanoparticles) , , and the relaxation time. At low temperature, the
model results in an RLCA cluster. But after a long enough relaxation time, the
nanocomposite reduces to a compact, non-fractal cluster. We calculate the
optical properties of the resulting aggregates using the Discrete Dipole
Approximation. Despite the restructuring, the melting transition (as seen in
the extinction coefficient at wavelength 520 nm) remains sharp, and the melting
temperature increases with increasing as found in our previous
percolation model. However, restructuring increases the corresponding link
fraction at melting to a value well above the percolation threshold. Our
calculated extinction cross section agrees qualitatively with experiments on
gold/DNA composites. It also shows a characteristic ``rebound effect,''
resulting from incomplete relaxation, which has also been seen in some
experiments. We discuss briefly how our results relate to a possible sol-gel
transition in these aggregates.Comment: 12 pages, 10 figure
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