Market Study for the production of ultrastable plasmonic Cu nanoparticles enabled by core-shell strategy

等离子体纳米粒子具有独特的表面等离子体共振（SPR），为解决能源和环境领域的许多紧迫问题提供了新的途径。只有三种金属，Au，Ag和Cu，可以在可见光和近红外范围内调谐它们的SPR。与贵金属Au和Ag相比，铜基等离子体纳米结构的合成、SPR性质和应用受到的关注明显较少。这在很大程度上是由于铜容易氧化。然而，铜在地球上储量丰富，而且价格便宜得多，因此从长远来看，它比Au和Ag更具可持续性和吸引力。此外，除了与等离子体相关的应用，如生物成像、表面增强拉曼散射、传感、光致发光和电子学，Cu纳米颗粒在许多其他应用中也非常有吸引力，如甲醇的催化合成和印刷电子。为了促进铜纳米粒子的实际应用，通过控制纳米粒子的结构参数来获得大幅提高的化学稳定性是至关重要的。 INRS的研究人员最近生产了超稳定的等离子体Cu NP，它们通过通过电流置换法合成的薄而坚固的Au壳与环境隔离。即使在强氧化性HNO 3溶液中，尚未完全结晶的Au壳也能有效抑制Cu的浸出，这是我们所知的这种化学稳定性水平的首次证明。此外，这些核-壳纳米颗粒在用于太阳能转换的真实的恶劣环境中显示出高的光热效率和化学稳定性。与此形成鲜明对比的是，即使仅通过饱和CO2溶液，仅核心的Cu NP也可以容易地且完全地溶解。这项工作可能会在很大程度上促进和扩大铜纳米粒子的商业应用。这项I2 I市场研究将帮助我们评估开发的Cu NPs生产技术的市场潜力。

With unique surface plasmon resonance (SPR), plasmonic nanoparticles (NPs) are offering new ways to address many pressing issues in energy and environment sectors. Only three metals, Au, Ag and Cu, can have their SPR tuned in the visible and near infrared ranges. As compared to noble metals of Au and Ag, the synthesis, SPR properties and applications of Cu-based plasmonic nanostructures have received significantly less attention. It is largely due to the easy oxidation of Cu. Nevertheless, Cu is earth abundant and much cheaper, so in the long term it is more sustainable and attractive than its Au and Ag counterparts. Moreover, in addition to plasmon-related applications, such as bioimaging, surface-enhanced Raman scattering, sensing, photovoltaics and photocatalysis, Cu nanoparticles are also highly attractive for many other applications, such as the catalytic synthesis of methanol and printed electronics. To promote the real-world applications of Cu NPs, it is of paramount importance to obtain largely increased chemical stability by controlling NP structural parameters. Researchers at INRS have recently produced ultrastable plasmonic Cu NPs, which are isolated from their environments by a thin, robust Au shell synthesized via a galvanic replacement method. The ultrathin yet complete crystalline Au shell effectively inhibits the leaching of Cu even in strong oxidizing HNO3 solution, the first demonstration of this level of chemical stability, to the best of our knowledge. Furthermore, these core-shell NPs show high photothermal efficiency and chemical stability in real harsh environments for solar energy conversion. In stark contrast, the core-only Cu NPs can be easily and completely dissolved even by just saturated CO2 solution. This work may largely facilitate and expand the commercial applications of Cu NPs. This I2I market study will help us assess the market potential of the developed technology for Cu NPs production.