Polymer Films with Embedded Metal Nanoparticles

ISBN-13: 9783642077296 / Angielski / Miękka / 2010 / 218 str.

Andreas Heilmann

Opis

Die Neigung des Menschen, kleine Dinge wichtig zu nehmen, hat sehr viel GrofJes hervorgebracht. The human tendency to regard little things as important has produced very many great things. Georg Christoph Lichtenberg (1742-1799) The German physicist and poet Lichtenberg knew nothing about polymer films or nanoparticles. But it is quite likely that he had seen colored glasses with embedded metal nanoparticles made by unidentified Roman glassmakers or so-called ruby glasses created by Johann Kunckel (ca. 1630-1703), a Ger man alchemist. Colored glasses were one of the first nanoparticle-containing materials designed by man. Kunckel did not have the equipment to investi gate the structure of the material he had created and could not know that the deep purple color was a result of embedded gold nanoparticles. These days, however, we have excellent tools such as electron microscopes for the determination of small structures with dimensions in the nanometer range. It is now well-established that such small particles have physical and chemical properties that are very different to those of the bulk material. Indeed an exact knowledge of the nanostructure and of its relation to the physical properties turns out to be essential for the design of nanostructured granular materials and for their industrial application."

Recenzje

Praise for A. Heilmann's Polymer Films with Embedded Metal Nanoparticles

POLYMERNEWS

"This book presents an overview of the structure and resulting electronic and optical properties of metal nanoparticles that are embedded in insulating polymer matrices."

 

Spis treści

1. Introduction.- 2. Film Deposition.- 3. Nanostructure.- 4. Nanostructural Changes.- 5. Electronic Properties.- 6. Nanostructure and Optical Properties.- References.

Blurb

This book gives an overview of the nanostructure and the resulting electronic and optical properties of metal nanoparticles embedded in insulating polymer matrices. The preparation of such materials is reviewed with special attention to various thin film deposition techniques. Deposition parameters, chemical and physical properties of the matrix material as well as the application potential of such films are described. Extensive investigations of the nanostructure are presented and detailed descriptions of the particle geometry are given. As a result of various diffusion processes during thermal annealing or electron- and laser-beam irradiation, substantial changes of the metal particle size and shape distribution are observed. Extensive measurements of the electronic and optical properties are presented to demonstrate detailed relationships between the nanostructure and the electronic and optical properties. Modelling of the optical properties with various theories is explained in detail and can be transferred straightforwardly to a large number of other materials.