Sensors and Actuators B: Chemical, Volume 168, 20 June 2012, Pages 429-435
Priyank Mohan, Ryuzo Shinta, Jun Fujiwara, Hiroaki Takahashi, Derrick Mott, Yasufumi Matsumura, Goro Mizutani, Kentaro Iwami, Norihiro Umeda, Shinya Maenosono
School of Materials Science, Japan Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (JAIST), 1-1 Asahidai, Nomi, Ishikawa 923-1292, Japan
New Business Development & Promotion Department, Nippon Steel Chemical Co., Ltd., 1 Tsukiji, Kisarazu, Chiba 292-0835, Japan
Department of Mechanical Systems Engineering, Graduate School of Engineering, Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology, Koganei, Tokyo 184-8588, Japan
Abstract
Nanocomposite films consisting of gold nanoparticles (Au NPs) and boehmite nanorods (NRs) were synthesized via simple wet chemical methods. The nanocomposite film exhibited an excellent optical sensing capability of humidity utilizing the refractive-index-dependent localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR), which directly enables low-cost and easy-to-use remote humidity monitoring. It has been revealed that the superior performance of the Au-NP/boehmite nanocomposite film is owing to porousness, smoothness, and hydrophilicity of the boehmite matrix.