Nanoplasmonic Sensing for Nanomaterials Science

Book chapter, 2015

This chapter provides a concise overview of how both direct and indirect nanoplasmonic sensing can be successfully applied to address materials science questions. As the key ingredient for the direct sensing strategy, one identifies the need to create a plasmonic excitation in the nanoparticle/material of interest. The indirect nanoplasmonic sensing scheme exploits the spatially nano-confined volume of enhanced electric field (the sensing volume) formed around the inert (usually gold) plasmonic sensor particle to detect minute local changes in a material located within the sensing volume. The chapter discusses a selection of specific examples, where the nanoplasmonics toolbox was applied to probe a specific process in a nanomaterial, to highlight the key benefits of localized surface plasmon resonances (LSPRs) as in situ probes in nanomaterials science. It briefly summarizes examples from the literature where indirect concepts, using various plasmonic sensor-active material combinations, were applied for (hazardous) gas detection.