Inkjet Patterning of Plasmonic Metal Nanoparticles in Silicone Elastomers

Abstract

The incorporation of the plasmonic metal nanoparticles (NPs) in microfluidic systems is highly desirable since their unique characteristic such as localized plasmonic resonance can be largely beneficial to many biomedical applications; however, the typical incorporation process requires a long immersion time and totally lacks patterning capability. This work develops a method for embedding patterned plasmonic AuNPs and AgNPs in silicone elastomer by inkjet printing metal ion solution into uncured silicone elastomer. This work finds that both energetics and kinetics of the solvent's mixing behaviors are critical to successful patterning, both experimentally and theoretically. Based on these results, patterned metal NPs are literally "embedded" in silicon elastomers efficiently, not formed just on surfaces. This work demonstrates the patterning capability by reproducing pixel arts with metal NPs in silicone elastomer. In addition, an AuNPs-based photothermal microfluidic pump that responds to light at a specific wavelength is fabricated, demonstrating the potential utility of the inkjet patterned metal NPs in silicone elastomer.