Chiral plasmonic nanoparticles for optical applications: a structural characterization

Our research programme aims at designing and preparing innovative nanostructured systems of different shape, size and composition, mainly made of noble metals and ad hoc functionalized with appropriate organic or organometallic molecules, for a wide range of applications ranging from pollutants sensing to nanomedicine to optoelectronics and quantum optics. In this framework, we recently designed and synthesised chiral nanoparticles (NPs) made of Au and Ag and stabilized by L-cysteine, by following a bottom-up approach leading to chiral nanostructures (as proved by preliminary optical and morphological characterization); in this strategy, the chiral biomolecule L-cysteine is envisaged to act as template to drive the synthesis toward a chiral structure of the NPs. Here, we plan to perform XAS at the Ag K-edge and Au L(III)-edge to gather information about the local structure at the cysteine-silver and cysteine-gold interface and to characterize the metal local structure.