Laser Induced Plasmonic Heating with Au Decorated TiO₂ Nanoparticles

In this study, we explore the feasibility of laser as source of photons for plasmonic heating of metal nanoparticles. Au decorated TiO2 nanoparticles with different Au wt.% loading were prepared using deposition-precipitation method and their physical and optical properties were characterized by X-Ray diffraction (XRD), Diffuse reflectance spectra (DRS) and Raman spectroscopy. The enhancement of the optical properties of Au plasmonic nanoparticles arises from localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR) effect achieved under 532 nm laser irradiation. Additionally, the photothermal performance of Au/TiO2 nanofluid was tested compared with other nanofluids under visible laser irradiation. The results revealed that the temperature of Au/TiO2 nanofluid was significantly higher compared to that of bare TiO2 and pure milli-Q water, attributing to the plasmonic excitation of Au nanoparticles under laser irradiation.