مشخصات پژوهش

In this paper, TiO2 inverse opals are synthesized using a cost-effective two-step method and modified by gold nanoparticles (GNPs) to increase the light trapping and subsequently its absorption. First, an opal photonic crystal that is made of close-packed microspheres of polymethylmethacrylate (PMMA) with face-centered cubic (FCC) lattice is grown using the vertical deposition method. Then, the opal structure is used as a template to grow TiO2 inverse opal. To do that, the titania precursor should be prepared in a careful way to have a uniform small particle size that can penetrate in the template lattice using the infiltration method. After removing the template with calcination and chemical etching, a large area of TiO2 inverse opal will remain on the substrate. The prepared inverse opal photonic crystals have unique optical and excellent chemical properties. Then, GNPs are infiltrated in TiO2 inverse opal structure. Having engineered the pore size of the TiO2 inverse opals, the photonic bandgap (PBG) of the inverse opal and localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR) of the GNPs are integrated. Thus, an enhanced absorbance is observed in the UV-Vis spectrum that is promising for different applications such as solar cells, photocatalysts, and bio/chemical sensors.