Submit to Materials Review for Materials Propose a Special Issue

Journal Browser

► Journal Browser

Plasmonic and Photonic Nanostructures for Sensing and Solar Energy Conversion Applications

Print Special Issue Flyer
Special Issue Editors
Special Issue Information
Keywords
Published Papers

A special issue of Materials (ISSN 1996-1944). This special issue belongs to the section "Materials Physics".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (10 April 2023) | Viewed by 7299

Share This Special Issue

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Vlassios Likodimos

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor

Section of Condensed Matter Physics, Department of Physics, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, University Campus, GR-157 84 Zografou, Athens
Interests: photocatalytic materials; nanostructured titanium dioxide; carbon nanomaterials; metal oxides
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Prof. Dr. Spiros Gardelis

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor

Section of Condensed Matter Physics, Department of Physics, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, University Campus, Zografou, GR-15784 Athens, Greece
Interests: semiconductors; nanoelectronics; solar cells; photonics; low dimensional structures; spintronics; MEMS

Dr. Pangiota Petrou

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor

Immunoassay/Immunosensors Lab, Institute of Nuclear & Radiological Sciences & Technology, Energy & Safety, NCSR “Demokritos”, 15310 Aghia Paraskevi, Greece
Interests: immunoassays and immunosensors for biological markers; environmental or food hazard; new substrates and methods for biomolecule immobilization and/or detection; development and evaluation of bioanalytical microsystems
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Photonic and plasmonic nanostructures have nowadays emerged as one of the most potent means to confine and manipulate light–matter interactions at the nanoscale towards transformative research and technological developments in different fields ranging from optoelectronics and sensors to solar energy conversion. Controlling the size, shape and dispersion of plasmonic nanomaterials, along with the periodicity and interfaces of photonic nanostructures, has paved the way for the rational design and engineering of nanomaterials and devices for target applications, including optical sensors, photocatalysis, hydrogen evolution, photovoltaics, and chemical fuels.

This Special Issue aims to present recent advances in functional photonic and plasmonic nanostructures and plasmonic–photonic hybrids with tailored properties for photo-induced applications such as photocatalytic water/air purification; hydrogen and chemical fuel production; optical sensors, including substrates for surface enhanced Raman scattering (SERS); biodiagnostics; and solar cells. Particular emphasis will be given to nanomaterial growth and processing techniques, heterostructuring, interface engineering, and theoretical modeling in order to promote photon capture, electromagnetic field enhancement, hot electron generation, and charge separation/transfer that are key factors in biosensor and solar energy conversion applications.

We cordially invite you to contribute your recent work including review articles, original papers, and communications to this Special Issue, focusing on, but not limited to, the above topics.

Prof. Dr. Vlassios Likodimos
Prof. Dr. Spiros Gardelis
Prof. Dr. Panagiota S. Petrou
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Materials is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

plasmonic nanomaterials
photonic materials and devices
optical microcavities and resonators
hybrid plasmonic-photonic structures
photonic crystals
plasmonic photocatalysis
plasmonic and dielectric SERS
optical biosensors
solar cells
hydrogen production

Published Papers (4 papers)

Download All Papers

Research

Jump to: Review

13 pages, 6144 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Enhanced Photoluminescence of R6G Dyes from Metal Decorated Silicon Nanowires Fabricated through Metal Assisted Chemical Etching

by Ioannis Kochylas, Anastasios Dimitriou, Maria-Athina Apostolaki, Maria-Christina Skoulikidou, Vlassios Likodimos, Spiros Gardelis and Nikolaos Papanikolaou

Materials 2023, 16(4), 1386; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/ma16041386 - 07 Feb 2023

Cited by 4 | Viewed by 1495

Abstract

In this study, we developed active substrates consisting of Ag-decorated silicon nanowires on a Si substrate using a single-step Metal Assisted Chemical Etching (MACE) process, and evaluated their performance in the identification of low concentrations of Rhodamine 6G using surface-enhanced photoluminescence spectroscopy. Different structures with Ag-aggregates as well as Ag-dendrites were fabricated and studied depending on the etching parameters. Moreover, the addition of Au nanoparticles by simple drop-casting on the MACE-treated surfaces can enhance the photoluminescence significantly, and the structures have shown a Limit of Detection of Rhodamine 6G down to

10^{- 12}

M for the case of the Ag-dendrites enriched with Au nanoparticles. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Plasmonic and Photonic Nanostructures for Sensing and Solar Energy Conversion Applications)

► Show Figures

Figure 1

10 pages, 2101 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Seed Layer Optimisation for Ultra-Thin Sb₂Se₃ Solar Cells on TiO₂ by Vapour Transport Deposition

by Remigijus Juškėnas, Arnas Naujokaitis, Audrius Drabavičius, Vidas Pakštas, Deividas Vainauskas and Rokas Kondrotas

Materials 2022, 15(23), 8356; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/ma15238356 - 24 Nov 2022

Viewed by 1315

Abstract

Antimony selenide (Sb₂Se₃) material has drawn considerable attention as an Earth-abundant and non-toxic photovoltaic absorber. The power conversion efficiency of Sb₂Se₃-based solar cells increased from less than 2% to over 10% in a decade. Different deposition methods were implemented to synthesize Sb₂Se₃ thin films, and various device structures were tested. In search of a more environmentally friendly device composition, the common CdS buffer layer is being replaced with oxides. It was identified that on oxide substrates such as TiO₂ using vacuum-based close-space deposition methods, an intermediate deposition step was required to produce high-quality thin films. However, little or no investigation was carried out using another very successful vacuum deposition approach in Sb₂Se₃ technology called vapour transport deposition (VTD). In this work, we present optimized VTD process conditions to achieve compact, pinhole-free, ultra-thin (<400 nm) Sb₂Se₃ absorber layers. Three process steps were designed to first deposit the seed layer, then anneal it and, at the final stage, deposit a complete Sb₂Se₃ absorber. Fabricated solar cells using absorbers as thin as 400 nm generated a short-circuit current density over 30 mA/cm², which demonstrates both the very high absorption capabilities of Sb₂Se₃ material and the prospects for ultra-thin solar cell application. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Plasmonic and Photonic Nanostructures for Sensing and Solar Energy Conversion Applications)

► Show Figures

Figure 1

17 pages, 5665 KiB

Open AccessEditor’s ChoiceArticle

Visible Light Trapping against Charge Recombination in FeO_x–TiO₂ Photonic Crystal Photocatalysts

by Martha Pylarinou, Alexia Toumazatou, Elias Sakellis, Evangelia Xenogiannopoulou, Spiros Gardelis, Nikos Boukos, Athanasios Dimoulas and Vlassis Likodimos

Materials 2021, 14(23), 7117; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/ma14237117 - 23 Nov 2021

Cited by 4 | Viewed by 1815

Abstract

Tailoring metal oxide photocatalysts in the form of heterostructured photonic crystals has spurred particular interest as an advanced route to simultaneously improve harnessing of solar light and charge separation relying on the combined effect of light trapping by macroporous periodic structures and compositional materials’ modifications. In this work, surface deposition of FeO_x nanoclusters on TiO₂ photonic crystals is investigated to explore the interplay of slow-photon amplification, visible light absorption, and charge separation in FeO_x–TiO₂ photocatalytic films. Photonic bandgap engineered TiO₂ inverse opals deposited by the convective evaporation-induced co-assembly method were surface modified by successive chemisorption-calcination cycles using Fe(III) acetylacetonate, which allowed the controlled variation of FeO_x loading on the photonic films. Low amounts of FeO_x nanoclusters on the TiO₂ inverse opals resulted in diameter-selective improvements of photocatalytic performance on salicylic acid degradation and photocurrent density under visible light, surpassing similarly modified P25 films. The observed enhancement was related to the combination of optimal light trapping and charge separation induced by the FeO_x–TiO₂ interfacial coupling. However, an increase of the FeO_x loading resulted in severe performance deterioration, particularly prominent under UV-Vis light, attributed to persistent surface recombination via diverse defect d-states. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Plasmonic and Photonic Nanostructures for Sensing and Solar Energy Conversion Applications)

► Show Figures

Graphical abstract

Review

Jump to: Research

32 pages, 3383 KiB

Open AccessReview

SERS Immunosensors for Cancer Markers Detection

by Georgia Geka, Anastasia Kanioura, Vlassis Likodimos, Spiros Gardelis, Nikolaos Papanikolaou, Sotirios Kakabakos and Panagiota Petrou

Materials 2023, 16(10), 3733; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/ma16103733 - 15 May 2023

Cited by 4 | Viewed by 1699

Abstract

Early diagnosis and monitoring are essential for the effective treatment and survival of patients with different types of malignancy. To this end, the accurate and sensitive determination of substances in human biological fluids related to cancer diagnosis and/or prognosis, i.e., cancer biomarkers, is of ultimate importance. Advancements in the field of immunodetection and nanomaterials have enabled the application of new transduction approaches for the sensitive detection of single or multiple cancer biomarkers in biological fluids. Immunosensors based on surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) are examples where the special properties of nanostructured materials and immunoreagents are combined to develop analytical tools that hold promise for point-of-care applications. In this frame, the subject of this review article is to present the advancements made so far regarding the immunochemical determination of cancer biomarkers by SERS. Thus, after a short introduction about the principles of both immunoassays and SERS, an extended presentation of up-to-date works regarding both single and multi-analyte determination of cancer biomarkers is presented. Finally, future perspectives on the field of SERS immunosensors for cancer markers detection are briefly discussed. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Plasmonic and Photonic Nanostructures for Sensing and Solar Energy Conversion Applications)

► Show Figures