Department of Chemistry Seminar – Dr. Ying Bao

About the event

Speaker: Dr. Ying Bao, Western Washington University

Host: Dr. Jack Zhang

Title: Morphology Control of Plasmonic Nanomaterial

Abstract: Metal nanocrystals have attracted intense interest owing to their astonishing localized surface plasmon resonance properties and potential applications such as sensing, catalysis, and biomedicines.  These properties are highly dependent on the nanocrystals’ physical parameters including morphology and surface ligands.  The Bao Group has worked to improve plasmonic function of metal nanoparticles via both nanocrystal synthesis and surface modification.  In this talk, Dr. Bao will focus on talking about their work on fabricating nanomaterials with spiky/branched morphology. She will first present her work on developing a rapid and effective synthesis method for preparing 2D gold nanosnowflakes (AuNSFs).  By adjusting the synthesis conditions, the morphology and size of the 2D AuNSFs can be fine-tuned and demonstrations of the 2D AuNSFs’ function as signal amplifiers to enhance Raman scattering from small molecules will be discussed.  Then, Dr. Bao will discuss her recent published work on fabricating Pt/Ag based catalysts with spiky morphology by combining galvanic reactions and co-reducing agents and study the impact of their morphology on the catalysis property.