A new approach for synthesizing plasmonic polymer nanocomposite thin films by combining a gold salt aerosol and an atmospheric pressure low-temperature plasma

The proof of the concept of a new, onestep and safe by design process to synthesize metal-polymer nanocomposites thin films on a large surface is presented. It is based on the injection of an aerosol of a solution of metal (gold) salts dissolved in a polymerizable solvent (isopropanol) into an argon atmospheric pressure dielectric barrier discharge. The main novelty of this method resides in the fact that the nanoparticles are formed in situ, inside the plasma reactor, in the gas phase. Consequently, the nanoparticle synthesis and deposition are concomitant with the solvent polymerization used to produce the matrix, which makes it possible to obtain homogeneous layers of non-agglomerated nanoparticles (NPs) with high NPs density. By toggling between low and high-frequency discharges, gold/polymer nanocomposites with different morphologies and optical properties are synthesized. The effect of the concentration of gold in the aerosol and the gas residence time in the plasma as well as the ratio of high and low-frequency discharge and their repetition rate are presented. The thin films are systematically characterized by AFM and UV–visible spectroscopy to analyze their morphologies along with their plasmonic resonances.