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    Dumbbell gold nanoparticle dimer antennas with advanced optical properties
    (Frankfurt, M. : Beilstein-Institut zur Förderung der Chemischen Wissenschaften, 2018) Herrmann, Janning F.; Höppener, Christiane
    Plasmonic nanoantennas have found broad applications in the fields of photovoltaics, electroluminescence, non-linear optics and for plasmon enhanced spectroscopy and microscopy. Of particular interest are fundamental limitations beyond the dipolar approximation limit. We introduce asymmetric gold nanoparticle antennas (AuNPs) with improved optical near-field properties based on the formation of sub-nanometer size gaps, which are suitable for studying matter with high-resolution and single molecule sensitivity. These dumbbell antennas are characterized in regard to their far-field and near-field properties and are compared to similar dimer and trimer antennas with larger gap sizes. The tailoring of the gap size down to sub-nanometer length scales is based on the integration of rigid macrocyclic cucurbituril molecules. Stable dimer antennas are formed with an improved ratio of the electromagnetic field enhancement and confinement. This ratio, taken as a measure of the performance of an antenna, can even exceed that exhibited by trimer AuNP antennas composed of comparable building blocks with larger gap sizes. Fluctuations in the far-field and near-field properties are observed, which are likely caused by distinct deviations of the gap geometry arising from the faceted structure of the applied colloidal AuNPs.
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    Curcuminoid–BF2 complexes: Synthesis, fluorescence and optimization of BF2 group cleavage
    (Frankfurt a.M. : Beilstein-Institut, 2017) Weiß, Henning; Reichel, Jeannine; Görls, Helmar; Schneider, Kilian R.A.; Micheel, Mathias; Pröhl, Michael; Gottschaldt, Michael; Dietzek, Benjamin; Weigand, Wolfgang
    Eight difluoroboron complexes of curcumin derivatives carrying alkyne groups containing substituents have been synthesized following an optimised reaction pathway. The complexes were received in yields up to 98% and high purities. Their properties as fluorescent dyes have been investigated. Furthermore, a strategy for the hydrolysis of the BF2 group has been established using aqueous methanol and sodium hydroxide or triethylamine.
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    Large-area wet-chemical deposition of nanoporous tungstic silica coatings
    (London [u.a.] : RSC, 2015) Nielsen, K.H.; Wondraczek, K.; Schubert, U.S.; Wondraczek, L.
    We report on a facile procedure for synthesis of nanoporous coatings of tungstic silica through wet-chemical deposition and post-treatment of tungsten-doped potassium silicate solutions. The process relies on an aqueous washing and ion exchange step where dispersed potassium salt deposits are removed from a 150 nm silicate gel layer. Through an adjustment of the pH value of the washing agent within the solubility regime of a tungstic salt precursor, the tungsten content of the remaining nanostructured coating can be controlled. We propose this route as a universal approach for the deposition of large-area coatings of nanoporous silica with the potential for incorporating a broad variety of other dopant species. As for the present case, we observe, on the one hand, antireflective properties which enable the reduction of reflection losses from float glass by up to 3.7 percent points. On the other hand, the incorporation of nanoscale tungstic precipitates provides a lever for tailoring the coating hydrophilicity and, eventually, also surface acidity. This may provide a future route for combining optical performance with anti-fouling functionality.
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    Surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy of cell lysates mixed with silver nanoparticles for tumor classification
    (Frankfurt, M. : Beilstein-Institut zur Förderung der Chemischen Wissenschaften, 2017) Hassoun, Mohamed; Schie, Iwan W.; Tolstik, Tatiana; Stanca, Sarmiza E.; Krafft, Christoph; Popp, Jürgen
    The throughput of spontaneous Raman spectroscopy for cell identification applications is limited to the range of one cell per second because of the relatively low sensitivity. Surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) is a widespread way to amplify the intensity of Raman signals by several orders of magnitude and, consequently, to improve the sensitivity and throughput. SERS protocols using immuno-functionalized nanoparticles turned out to be challenging for cell identification because they require complex preparation procedures. Here, a new SERS strategy is presented for cell classification using non-functionalized silver nanoparticles and potassium chloride to induce aggregation. To demonstrate the principle, cell lysates were prepared by ultrasonication that disrupts the cell membrane and enables interaction of released cellular biomolecules to nanoparticles. This approach was applied to distinguish four cell lines – Capan-1, HepG2, Sk-Hep1 and MCF-7 – using SERS at 785 nm excitation. Six independent batches were prepared per cell line to check the reproducibility. Principal component analysis was applied for data reduction and assessment of spectral variations that were assigned to proteins, nucleotides and carbohydrates. Four principal components were selected as input for classification models based on support vector machines. Leave-three-batches-out cross validation recognized four cell lines with sensitivities, specificities and accuracies above 96%. We conclude that this reproducible and specific SERS approach offers prospects for cell identification using easily preparable silver nanoparticles.