Dual-responsive nanoparticles that aggregate under the simultaneous action of light and CO2

Metallic nanoparticles co- functionalised with monolayers of UV- and CO2-sensitive ligands were prepared and shown to respond to these two types of stimuli reversibly and in an orthogonal fashion. The composition of the coating could be tailored to yield nanoparticles capable of aggregating exclusively when both UV and CO2 were applied at the same time, analogously to the behaviour of an AND logic gate.