Generation of Al nanoparticles via ablation of bulk Al in liquids with short laser pulses.

Highly stable aluminum nanoparticles (NPs) are generated via ablation of bulk Al in ethanol using either femtosecond (fs) or picosecond (ps) laser sources. The colloidal NPs solutions obtained with fs pulses exhibit a yellow coloration and show an increased optical absorption between 300 and 400 nm, tentatively assigned to the plasmon resonance of nanosized Al. The corresponding solutions after ps ablation are gray colored and opalescent. The average size of the NPs formed ranges from 20 nm for the fs case to 60 nm for the ps case, while a narrower distribution is obtained using the shorter pulses. High Resolution Transmission Electron Microscopy (HRTEM) studies indicate that the NPs are mostly amorphous with single crystalline inclusions. Al NPs generated with short laser pulses slowly react with air oxygen due to the presence of a native oxide cladding, which efficiently passivates their surface against further oxidation.

[1]  Hao Cui,et al.  Nucleation and growth kinetics of nanocrystals formed upon pulsed-laser ablation in liquid , 2005 .

[2]  J. Bitter,et al.  Sodium alanate nanoparticles--linking size to hydrogen storage properties. , 2008, Journal of the American Chemical Society.

[3]  Heting Li,et al.  Formation and properties of stabilized aluminum nanoparticles. , 2009, ACS applied materials & interfaces.

[4]  James Pond,et al.  Aluminum nanoparticles as substrates for metal-enhanced fluorescence in the ultraviolet for the label-free detection of biomolecules. , 2009, Analytical chemistry.

[5]  Costas Fotakis,et al.  Femtosecond laser writing of nanostructures on bulk Al via its ablation in air and liquids , 2009 .

[6]  J. Creighton,et al.  Ultraviolet–visible absorption spectra of the colloidal metallic elements , 1991 .

[7]  V. Dembovský.  Thermodynamics of dissolution and liberation of gases in the atomization of molten metals by plasma-induced expansion , 1997 .

[8]  Yan Fang,et al.  A new substrate for surface enhanced Raman scattering of dye Sudan molecules. , 2007, Spectrochimica acta. Part A, Molecular and biomolecular spectroscopy.

[9]  Michael R. Zachariah,et al.  Surface Passivation of Bare Aluminum Nanoparticles Using Perfluoroalkyl Carboxylic Acids , 2003 .

[10]  H. Solak,et al.  Plasmon resonances of aluminum nanoparticles and nanorods , 2008 .

[11]  M. Zachariah,et al.  Size-resolved kinetic measurements of aluminum nanoparticle oxidation with single particle mass spectrometry. , 2005, The journal of physical chemistry. B.

[12]  Himanshu Tyagi,et al.  Increased hot-plate ignition probability for nanoparticle-laden diesel fuel. , 2008, Nano letters.

[13]  Charles R. Martin,et al.  Fabrication, characterization and optical theory of aluminum nanometal/nanoporous membrane thin film composites , 1995 .

[14]  Fang Fang,et al.  Hydrogen Storage Properties of Space-Confined NaAlH4 Nanoparticles in Ordered Mesoporous Silica , 2008 .

[15]  A. Gromov,et al.  Passivation of the surface of aluminum nanopowders by protective coatings of the different chemical origin , 2007 .

[16]  G. Yang.  Laser ablation in liquids : Applications in the synthesis of nanocrystals , 2007 .

[17]  C. Xie,et al.  Characterization and thermal properties of carbon-coated aluminum nanopowders prepared by laser-induction complex heating in methane , 2007 .

[18]  G. Yang,et al.  Micro- and nanocubes of carbon with C8-like and blue luminescence. , 2008, Nano letters.

[19]  Shiv N. Khanna,et al.  Complementary Active Sites Cause Size-Selective Reactivity of Aluminum Cluster Anions with Water , 2009, Science.

[20]  A. Caballero,et al.  Characterisation of passivated aluminium nanopowders: An XPS and TEM/EELS study , 1998 .

[21]  L. Meda,et al.  Nanoparticles for solid rocket propulsion , 2006 .

[22]  Curtis E. Johnson,et al.  Inhibition of Oxide Formation on Aluminum Nanoparticles by Transition Metal Coating , 2005 .

[23]  C. Louis,et al.  Synthesis and characterization of high surface area aluminium and alumina microtubes from carbonaceous materials , 2002 .

[24]  P. Sciortino,et al.  High-performance, large area, deep ultraviolet to infrared polarizers based on 40 nm line/78 nm space nanowire grids , 2007 .

[25]  G. A. Shafeev,et al.  Laser induced synthesis of nanoparticles in liquids , 2006 .

[26]  G. A. Shafeev,et al.  Laser writing of nanostructures on bulk Al via its ablation in liquids , 2009, Nanotechnology.