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Controllable Fabrication of Au Nanocups by Confined‐Space Thermal Dewetting for OCT Imaging
Author(s) -
Gao Aiqin,
Xu Wenjing,
Ponce de León Yenisey,
Bai Yaocai,
Gong Mingfu,
Xie Kongliang,
Park Boris Hyle,
Yin Yadong
Publication year - 2017
Publication title -
advanced materials
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 10.707
H-Index - 527
eISSN - 1521-4095
pISSN - 0935-9648
DOI - 10.1002/adma.201701070
Subject(s) - dewetting , materials science , fabrication , thermal , nanotechnology , annealing (glass) , confined space , optics , composite material , thin film , medicine , chemistry , alternative medicine , physics , organic chemistry , pathology , meteorology
Here, this study reports a novel confined‐space thermal dewetting strategy for the fabrication of Au nanocups with tunable diameter, height, and size of cup opening. The nanocup morphology is defined by the cup‐shaped void space created by a yolk–shell silica template that spontaneously takes an eccentric configuration during annealing. Thermal dewetting of Au, which is sandwiched between the yolk and shell, leads to the desired nanocup morphology. With strong scattering in near infrared, the Au nanocups exhibit superior efficiency as contrast agents for spectral‐domain optical coherence tomography imaging. This confined‐space thermal dewetting strategy is scalable and general, and can be potentially extended to the synthesis of novel anisotropic nanostructures of various compositions that are difficult to produce by conventional wet chemical or physical methods, thus opening up opportunities for many new applications.