Max Planck Institute for Intelligent Systems , Heisenbergstrasse 3, 70569 Stuttgart, Germany.
Kirchhoff Institute for Physics, University of Heidelberg , Im Neuenheimer Feld 227, 69120 Heidelberg, Germany.
Nano Lett. 2016 Feb 10;16(2):1462-6. doi: 10.1021/acs.nanolett.5b05105. Epub 2016 Jan 12.
Chirality is a highly important topic in modern chemistry, given the dramatically different pharmacological effects that enantiomers can have on the body. Chirality of natural molecules can be controlled by reconfiguration of molecular structures through external stimuli. Despite the rapid progress in plasmonics, active regulation of plasmonic chirality, particularly in the visible spectral range, still faces significant challenges. In this Letter, we demonstrate a new class of hybrid plasmonic metamolecules composed of magnesium and gold nanoparticles. The plasmonic chirality from such plasmonic metamolecules can be dynamically controlled by hydrogen in real time without introducing macroscopic structural reconfiguration. We experimentally investigate the switching dynamics of the hydrogen-regulated chiroptical response in the visible spectral range using circular dichroism spectroscopy. In addition, energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy is used to examine the morphology changes of the magnesium particles through hydrogenation and dehydrogenation processes. Our study can enable plasmonic chiral platforms for a variety of gas detection schemes by exploiting the high sensitivity of circular dichroism spectroscopy.
手性是现代化学中一个非常重要的课题，因为对映体对人体可能产生截然不同的药理作用。天然分子的手性可以通过外部刺激来控制分子结构的重新配置。尽管在等离子体学方面取得了快速进展，但在可见光范围内对等离子体手性的主动调控仍然面临着重大挑战。在这篇快报中，我们展示了一类由镁和金纳米粒子组成的新型混合等离子体超分子。这种等离子体超分子的手性可以通过实时引入氢来动态控制，而无需引入宏观结构的重新配置。我们使用圆二色光谱实验研究了可见光谱范围内氢调控的手性响应的开关动力学。此外，能量色散 X 射线光谱用于通过氢化和脱氢过程检查镁颗粒的形态变化。我们的研究可以通过利用圆二色光谱的高灵敏度，为各种气体检测方案提供等离子体手性平台。
