Investigation of the structure-function relation of plasmonic nanoparticles with combined theory and experiment

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Plasmonics is a developing field enclosing many challenges both in theoretical background and in potential applications, which range from sensors and photocatalysis to biomedical applications. These enhanced interactions occurring between metal nanoparticles and light are of particular interest as they could be used to harvest solar energy, towards sun-driven catalysis.In this project, plasmonic nanoparticles of Au, Ag, and Mg will be synthesized. Some of these are routine syntheses that will be used as templates for more complex structures, while some, e.g. Mg, are novel syntheses that need careful testing and optimization. The light-matter interactions created by these particles will be investigated first optically using hyperspectral dark field spectroscopy, then in the near-field using electron-energy loss spectroscopy. These results will be correlated with electron microscopy and spectroscopy, which will unravel the nanoparticle's size, shape, and composition. Experimental data will be compared and further analysed with suitably tailored numerical techniques (BEM) to extract information such as near-field properties and mode symmetry.This research will help better understand the structure-property relation of plasmonic nanoparticles, towards tunable plasmonics for enhanced photocatalysis.