Polyvinyl Acetate-Based Polymer Host for Optical and Far-Infrared Spectroscopy of Individualized Nanoparticles

Published

January 15, 2021

Author(s)

Jeffrey Fagan, Henry Wladkowski, Julian Duarte, Shashank R. Nandyala, Joshua Walker, Subash Kattel, Jeffrey Blackburn, Jon Pikal, William D. Rice

Abstract

Preparation techniques for producing films of individualized, solution dispersed nanoparticles (NPs) for optical spectroscopy are often technically challenging and tailored for a specific NP system. In this work, we present a rapid, easy, and economical technique for producing polyvinyl acetate(PVAc)-based NP-polymer films on the order of 100's of microns thick that exhibit high uniformity, low aggregation, excellent optical transparency, and low terahertz absorption. In addition, we find that these films are robust at cryogenic temperatures and have a high laser damage threshold of 0.3 TWcm^2, which make them suitable for pulsed laser measurements. We show that free-standing,flexible, PVAc films can incorporate both one-dimensional single-wall carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs) and zero-dimensional Au nanoparticles. Using absorbance, Raman scattering, and photoluminescence excitation spectroscopy, we observe that SWCNT individualization is maintained, and minimized polymer strain imposed, when the nanotubes are transitioned from solution to the polymer host. This PVAc-based polymer host presents researchers with a straightforward method for producing free-standing and flexible NP films with low aggregation.

Citation

ACS Applied Polymer Materials

Pub Type

Journals

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Keywords

nanoparticle, spectroscopy, THz

Citation

Fagan, J. , Wladkowski, H. , Duarte, J. , Nandyala, S. , Walker, J. , Kattel, S. , Blackburn, J. , Pikal, J. and Rice, W. (2021), Polyvinyl Acetate-Based Polymer Host for Optical and Far-Infrared Spectroscopy of Individualized Nanoparticles, ACS Applied Polymer Materials, [online], https://doi.org/10.1063/5.0033611 (Accessed September 1, 2025)