AsianScientist (Dec. 13, 2018) – Researchers from the Singapore University of Technology and Design (SUTD) have engineered a nanomaterial that strongly interacts with visible and infrared light, with potential applications in biomolecule detection and solar energy conversion. They published their findings in Nano Energy .
By fine-tuning the structures of nanomaterials, researchers have been able to create coatings with unique properties. However, these nanomaterials are often expensive to fabricate and difficult to deposit on large surfaces.
In the present study, a team of scientists led by Assistant Professor Robert Simpson of SUTD has developed a nanomaterial that does not involve acids in its fabrication process and can be carried out at room temperature.
Due to its nanostructure, the nanomaterial strongly absorbs light in the visible and infrared range of the light spectrum. The researchers also demonstrated the ease of applying their nanomaterial onto other surfaces such as plastics.
“The material can be deposited at room temperature on a range of substrates without patterning or acids. So far, we have deposited the material over 100 mm diameter plastic, silicon and silica samples. This single-step large area fabrication method makes the material industrially relevant. Indeed, the nanostructures were grown using a modified technique that is commonly used to manufacture tinted films on large area window glass,” said Simpson.
The scientists proposed that the nanomaterial can be used to improve solar cells and engineered to optically detect minute traces of biomolecules.
The article can be found at: Dong et al. (2018) Flexible Omnidirectional and Polarisation-insensitive Broadband Plasmon-enhanced Absorber.
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Source: Singapore University of Technology and Design.
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