High second-order nonlinear response of platinum nanoflowers: the role of surface corrugation

Platinum nanoflowers (PtNFs) were elaborated using the seed-mediated growth technique applied to monodisperse platinum nanoparticles (similar to 3.0 nm) synthesized by the chemical reduction method. The X-ray diffraction pattern confirmed the formation of face-centered-cubic platinum nanocrystals. We report the Harmonic Light Scattering (HLS) properties of PtNFs for six different diameters (similar to 7.0; 8.0; 10.0; 14.0; 20.0 and 31.0 nm). From these HLS data we infer, for the first time, large hyperpolarizability beta values of PtNFs. These very high beta values of PtNFs are assigned mainly to highly corrugated surfaces for nanoparticles with irregular shapes.