Gold Nanorods: Plasmonic Photoheating

Nanomaterials offer unique properties that bridge classic to quantum behavior of matter. Gold nanoparticles (GNPs) are a relevant class of nanomaterials that has gained considerable attention for potential applications in medicine due to their size-dependent electronic, optical, and chemical properties. Gold nanorods (GNRs) are intriguing anisotropic-shaped type of GNPs with unique optical and photo-thermal properties used in many research fields such as optics, photonics, and nanomedicine. Particularly, under a suitable optical radiation, the GNRs feature enhanced light absorption, turning it into an ideal nano-source of heat, remotely controllable by exploiting light. In this framework, we have achieved a breakthrough in monitoring photo-induced nanoscale temperature variation by combining GNRs and thermotropic cholesteric liquid crystals. Investigation of morphological and optical properties of the obtained material reveals an original and efficient tool to detect temperature variationsat the nanoscale.