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    Direct Observation of Plasmon Band Formation and Delocalization in Quasi-Infinite Nanoparticle Chains
    (Washington, DC : ACS Publ., 2019) Mayer, Martin; Potapov, Pavel L.; Pohl, Darius; Steiner, Anja Maria; Schultz, Johannes; Rellinghaus, Bernd; Lubk, Axel; König, Tobias A.F.; Fery, Andreas
    Chains of metallic nanoparticles sustain strongly confined surface plasmons with relatively low dielectric losses. To exploit these properties in applications, such as waveguides, the fabrication of long chains of low disorder and a thorough understanding of the plasmon-mode properties, such as dispersion relations, are indispensable. Here, we use a wrinkled template for directed self-assembly to assemble chains of gold nanoparticles. With this up-scalable method, chain lengths from two particles (140 nm) to 20 particles (1500 nm) and beyond can be fabricated. Electron energy-loss spectroscopy supported by boundary element simulations, finite-difference time-domain, and a simplified dipole coupling model reveal the evolution of a band of plasmonic waveguide modes from degenerated single-particle modes in detail. In striking difference from plasmonic rod-like structures, the plasmon band is confined in excitation energy, which allows light manipulations below the diffraction limit. The non-degenerated surface plasmon modes show suppressed radiative losses for efficient energy propagation over a distance of 1500 nm. © 2019 American Chemical Society.
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    Reversible thermosensitive biodegradable polymeric actuators based on confined crystallization
    (Washington, DC : ACS Publ., 2015) Stroganov, Vladislav; Al-Hussein, Mahmoud; Sommer, Jens-Uwe; Janke, Andreas; Zakharchenko, Svetlana; Ionov, Leonid
    We discovered a new and unexpected effect of reversible actuation of ultrathin semicrystalline polymer films. The principle was demonstrated on the example of thin polycaprolactone-gelatin bilayer films. These films are unfolded at room temperature, fold at temperature above polycaprolactone melting point, and unfold again at room temperature. The actuation is based on reversible switching of the structure of the hydrophobic polymer (polycaprolactone) upon melting and crystallization. We hypothesize that the origin of this unexpected behavior is the orientation of polycaprolactone chains parallel to the surface of the film, which is retained even after melting and crystallization of the polymer or the “crystallization memory effect”. In this way, the crystallization generates a directed force, which causes bending of the film. We used this effect for the design of new generation of fully biodegradable thermoresponsive polymeric actuators, which are highly desirable for bionano-technological applications such as reversible encapsulation of cells and design of swimmers.