Adsorption of ozone and plasmonic properties of gold hydrosol: the effect of the nanoparticle size

Abstract

The impact of the size of gold nanoparticles on the magnitude of the bathochromic shift of their plasmon resonance peak upon ozone adsorption is revealed and analyzed. Namely, the plasmon band position of 7, 10, 14 and 32 nm nanoparticles shifts toward longer wavelengths by 51, 35, 23 and 9 nm respectively, i.e. the smaller the nanoparticles, the greater the shift of the band. Thus, the sensor efficiency of gold hydrosol increases with a decrease in the nanoparticle size. The shift of the Fermi level is a linear function of the inverse radius of nanoparticles. The observed alterations in the gold nanoparticle plasmonic properties and the Fermi level position are explained by a decrease in the electron density of nanoparticles caused by the electrons' partial binding by adsorbed O₃ molecules. The insignificance of oxygen and nitrous oxide effects on plasmonic properties of gold hydrosol is observed.