Engineering the Aggregation of Dyes on Ligand-Shell Protected Gold Nanoparticles to Promote Plexcitons Formation

The ability to control the light-matter interaction in nanosystems is a major challenge in the field of innovative photonics applications. In this framework, plexcitons are promising hybrid light-matter states arising from the strong coupling between plasmonic and excitonic materials. However, strategies to precisely control the formation of plexcitons and to modulate the coupling between the plasmonic and molecular moieties are still poorly explored. In this work, the attention is focused on suspensions of hybrid nanosystems prepared by coupling cationic gold nanoparticles to tetraphenyl porphyrins in different aggregation states. The role of crucial parameters such as the dimension of nanoparticles, the pH of the solution, and the ratio between the nanoparticles and dye concentration was systematically investigated. A variety of structures and coupling regimes were obtained. The rationalization of the results allowed for the suggestion of important guidelines towards the control of plexcitonic systems.

Automated summary

The control of light-matter interaction in nanosystems is a significant challenge in the field of innovative photonics applications. This study focuses on the investigation of hybrid nanosystem suspensions, formed by coupling cationic gold nanoparticles with tetraphenyl porphyrins. The results demonstrate the important role of parameters such as nanoparticle dimension, solution pH, and the ratio between nanoparticles and dye concentration in achieving control over nanosystems.