| AVS 63rd International Symposium & Exhibition | |
| Plasma Science and Technology | Tuesday Sessions |
| Session PS+2D-TuA |
| Session: | Plasma Processing for Nanomaterials and 2D Materials |
| Presenter: | Alejandro Alvarez Barragan, University of California Riverside |
| Authors: | A. Alvarez Barragan, University of California Riverside L. Zhong, University of California Riverside L. Mangolini, University of California Riverside |
| Correspondent: | Click to Email |
Titanium nitride is a refractory material with optical properties similar to those of gold. It has therefore attracted significant interest, since TiN nanoparticles are expected to show localized surface plasmon resonance in the visible/near-infrared range, all while overcoming the cost and thermal stability limitations of gold. For instance, they are a very attractive substitute of gold nanoparticles in biomedical applications [1]. Most of the methods involving TiN nanopowder synthesis use effective but complicated chemical routes [2,3]. In this contribution, we present a highly scalable method for the production of TiN nanoparticles using a non-thermal plasma process. A low-pressure non-thermal plasma reactor is used to continuously nucleate and grow crystalline TiN nanoparticles starting from a mixture of ammonia and titanium tetrachloride. Besides achieving a remarkable production rate (~50 mg/h), we were also able to control the particle size and stoichiometry with great precision by tuning process parameters such as gas composition and plasma input power. This finding is of paramount importance because the plasmonic peak position is highly dependent on these two parameters [4]. Absorption measurements of the as-synthesized particles show clear plasmonic resonance in the near-infrared region, ranging between 800 and 1000nm when dealing with the largest and smallest particles, respectively. XRD and high resolution TEM/EDS characterization also provides insight on the nitrogen content of the samples and its close correlation to particle size. The role of process parameters on the surface of the particles, which in turn affects their plasmonic properties, will be discussed extensively.
References
[1] L.R. Hirsch, R.J. Stafford, J. a Bankson, S.R. Sershen, B. Rivera, R.E. Price, et al., Nanoshell-mediated near-infrared thermal therapy of tumors under magnetic resonance guidance., Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U. S. A. 100 (2003) 13549–54. doi:10.1073/pnas.2232479100.
[2] F. Liu, Y. Li, Y. Yao, H. Zhang, W. Shao, Y. Kang, et al., Preparation of titanium nitride nanoparticles from a novel refluxing derived precursor, J. Wuhan Univ. Technol. Sci. Ed. 26 (2011) 429–433.
[3] S. Kaskel, K. Schlichte, G. Chaplais, M. Khanna, Synthesis and characterisation of titanium nitride based nanoparticles, J. Mater. Chem. 13 (2003) 1496.
[4] U. Guler, S. Suslov, A. V. Kildishev, A. Boltasseva, V.M. Shalaev, Colloidal Plasmonic Titanium Nitride Nanoparticles: Properties and Applications, Nanophotonics. 4 (2015) 269–276. doi:10.1515/nanoph-2015-0017.