Christopher Wood

Asymmetric Plasmonic Nanoparticles

The study of nanoparticles and their applications have grown significantly in recent years. Although colloid chemists have achieved excellent control over particle size for several metallic and semiconducting systems, there has been limited success in gaining synthetic control over the shapes of the nanoparticles. Asymmetric, non-spherical nanoparticles have been shown to exhibit optical properties of significant technological interest including enhanced fluorescence, nonlinear properties, optical resonances in the near infrared, and orientation-dependent plasmon excitations. However, due to their challenging syntheses, the study of such nanoparticles for applications in place of spherical nanoparticles is limited or non-existent.

Therefore the current aims of my project are to synthesize, characterize and investigate asymmetric, mono- and bi-metallic plasmonic nanoparticles, initially from literature syntheses, and then study their potential applications, primarily at the liquid-liquid interface. Applications include analyte detection via surface enhanced Raman spectroscopy and investigations into magnetically reversible reflective nanoparticle arrays.

Mini Bio:

• Phd, Chemistry (Currently); Imperial College London, Supervisors: Dr Joshua Edel and Prof Nicholas Long
• MSci, Chemistry (2008-2012); Imperial College London, Masters Project: Inorganic nanoparticles as multi-modal MRI probes, Supervisor: Prof Nicholas Long