title: Protein-Assisted Assembly of Modular 3D Plasmonic Raspberry-like Core/Satellite Nanoclusters: Correlation of Structure and Optical Properties.
abstract: We present a bottom-up assembly route for a large-scale organization of plasmonic nanoparticles (NPs) into three-dimensional (3D) modular assemblies with core/satellite structure. The protein-assisted assembly of small spherical gold or silver NPs with a hydrophilic protein shell (as satellites) onto larger metal NPs (as cores) offers high modularity in sizes and composition at high satellite coverage (close to the jamming limit). The resulting dispersions of metal/metal nanoclusters exhibit high colloidal stability and therefore allow for high concentrations and a precise characterization of the nanocluster architecture in dispersion by small-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS). Strong near-field coupling between the building blocks results in distinct regimes of dominant satellite-to-satellite and core-to-satellite coupling. High robustness against satellite disorder was proved by UV/vis diffuse reflectance (integrating sphere) measurements. Generalized multiparticle Mie theory (GMMT) simulations were employed to describe the electromagnetic coupling within the nanoclusters. The close correlation of structure and optical property allows for the rational design of core/satellite nanoclusters with tailored plasmonics and well-defined near-field enhancement, with perspectives for applications such as surface-enhanced spectroscopies.
authors.affiliation: Physical Chemistry II, University of Bayreuth , 95440 Bayreuth, Germany.|Leibniz-Institut für Polymerforschung Dresden e.V., Institute of Physical Chemistry and Polymer Physics , Hohe Straße 6, 01069 Dresden, Germany.
authors.forename: Roland P M
authors.initials: RP
authors.lastname: Höller
authors.affiliation: Physical Chemistry I, University of Bayreuth , 95440 Bayreuth, Germany.
authors.forename: Martin
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Dulle
authors.affiliation: Physical Chemistry II, University of Bayreuth , 95440 Bayreuth, Germany.
authors.forename: Sabrina
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Thomä
authors.affiliation: Leibniz-Institut für Polymerforschung Dresden e.V., Institute of Physical Chemistry and Polymer Physics , Hohe Straße 6, 01069 Dresden, Germany.
authors.forename: Martin
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Mayer
authors.affiliation: Leibniz-Institut für Polymerforschung Dresden e.V., Institute of Physical Chemistry and Polymer Physics , Hohe Straße 6, 01069 Dresden, Germany.
authors.forename: Anja Maria
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Steiner
authors.affiliation: Physical Chemistry I, University of Bayreuth , 95440 Bayreuth, Germany.
authors.forename: Stephan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Förster
authors.affiliation: Physical Chemistry II, University of Bayreuth , 95440 Bayreuth, Germany.|Leibniz-Institut für Polymerforschung Dresden e.V., Institute of Physical Chemistry and Polymer Physics , Hohe Straße 6, 01069 Dresden, Germany.|Physical Chemistry of Polymeric Materials, Technische Universität Dresden , Hohe Straße 6, 01069 Dresden, Germany.|Cluster of Excellence Centre for Advancing Electronics Dresden (cfaed), Technische Universität Dresden , 01062 Dresden, Germany.
authors.forename: Andreas
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Fery
authors.affiliation: Physical Chemistry II, University of Bayreuth , 95440 Bayreuth, Germany.|Leibniz-Institut für Polymerforschung Dresden e.V., Institute of Physical Chemistry and Polymer Physics , Hohe Straße 6, 01069 Dresden, Germany.|Cluster of Excellence Centre for Advancing Electronics Dresden (cfaed), Technische Universität Dresden , 01062 Dresden, Germany.
authors.forename: Christian
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Kuttner
authors.affiliation: Physical Chemistry II, University of Bayreuth , 95440 Bayreuth, Germany.|Institute of Building Materials, ETH Zürich , 8093 Zürich, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Munish
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Chanana
keywords: electromagnetic modeling; generalized multiparticle Mie theory (GMMT); nanoparticle assembly; plasmonic coupling; protein-coated gold and silver nanoparticles; small-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS)