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CPP: Fachverband Chemische Physik und Polymerphysik

CPP 41: Nanoparticles and Composite Materials

CPP 41.4: Talk

Thursday, April 3, 2014, 10:15–10:30, ZEU 222

Harnessing thermoplasmonics for actuation of hydrogel — •Hang Zhang, Martin Möller, and Ahmed Mourran — DWI - Leibniz Institut für Interaktive Materialien, Aachen, Germany

Significant attention has been drawn in the last decades on the localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR) of noble metal nanoparticles featuring remarkable photothermal energy conversion. In this regard, we report on a near-infrared driven hydrogel actuation system consisting of gold nanorods (AuNRs) embedded in Poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) (PNIPAM) network. Illuminations instantly heat the AuNRs and transform the hydrogel from the swollen state to the state above the lower critical solution temperature, causing the polymer network and the water to segregate. As a result, the expansion or contraction of the hydrogel can be remotely modulated, which is reversible, fast and local. The report discusses the possibility for actuation (amplitude, frequency) and the significance of the irradiation time and frequency on the hydrogel response dynamics.