title: Magnetic Gold Confined in Ordered Mesoporous Titania Thin Films: A Noble Approach for Magnetic Devices.
abstract: In the past decade, the surprising magnetic behavior of gold nanoparticles has been reported. This unexpected property is mainly attributed both to size and surface effects. Mesoporous thin films are ideal matrices for metallic nanoparticles inclusion, because of their highly accessible and tailorable pore systems that lead to completely tunable chemical environments. Exploiting these features, we synthesized Au nanoparticles within mesoporous titania thin films (film thickness of ∼150 nm and pore diameter of ∼5 nm), and we studied their magnetic properties under confinement. Here, we present the results of the magnetization as a function of temperature and magnetic field for this system, which are consistent with the previously reported for free (unconfined) thiol-capped gold nanoparticles. The successful inclusion of stable magnetic Au nanoparticles within transparent mesoporous thin films opens the gates for the application of these nanocomposites in two-dimensional (2D) microdevices technology and magneto-optical devices.
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Física de la Materia Condensada, Gerencia de Investigación y Aplicaciones, Centro Atómico Constituyentes, Comisión Nacional de Energía Atómica, CONICET , Av. Gral. Paz 1499, B1650KNA, San Martín, Buenos Aires, Argentina.
authors.forename: Leticia P
authors.initials: LP
authors.lastname: Granja
authors.affiliation: Gerencia Química, Centro Atómico Constituyentes, Comisión Nacional de Energía Atómica, CONICET , Av. Gral. Paz 1499, B1650KNA, San Martín, Buenos Aires, Argentina.
authors.forename: Eduardo D
authors.identifier: http://orcid.org/0000-0002-5834-4389
authors.initials: ED
authors.lastname: Martínez
authors.affiliation: División Física de Metales, Gerencia Física, and Instituto Baseiro (UNCU), CONICET, Centro Atómico Bariloche, Comisión Nacional de Energía Atómica , Av. Bustillo 9500 (8400), S. C. de Bariloche, Río Negro, Argentina.
authors.forename: Horacio
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Troiani
authors.affiliation: UPMC Univ. Paris 06, CNRS, Collège de France, UMR 7574, Laboratoire Chimie de la Matière Condensée de Paris, Collège de France , 11 place Marcelin Berthelot, 75005, Paris, France.
authors.forename: Clément
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Sanchez
authors.affiliation: Instituto de Nanosistemas, Universidad Nacional de General San Martín, CONICET , Av. 25 de Mayo y Francia, 1650, San Martín, Buenos Aires, Argentina.
authors.forename: Galo J A A
authors.identifier: http://orcid.org/0000-0001-9984-3806
authors.initials: GJ
authors.lastname: Soler Illia
keywords: chemical induced magnetism; gold nanoparticles; gold-titania nanocomposites; mesoporous thin films; noble metals magnetism