Electrovariable Nanoplasmonics and Self-Assembling Smart Mirrors

We introduce a new direction of research in electrooptics: electrovariable nanoplasmonics. As a specific example, we focus on a new approach for electrically tunable reflection of light at a liquid-liquid interface, suggested and described in this work. Its operation principle relies on voltage controlled localization of metal nanoparticles at the interface. For appropriate sizes and charges of the nanoparticles, and concentration of the electrolytes, about 0.5 V potential variation is required to reversibly convert the interface of two immiscible electrolytic solutions from a transparent window to a mirror. An extension of this approach to solid/liquid electrochemical systems using transparent electrodes is also discussed.