Optical and electrical behavior of organic/inorganic hybrid with embedded gold nanoparticles

Abstract

Gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) with different diameters (from 4 up to 10 nm) were immobilized within a amine-alcohol-silicate matrix [AA(600)] by mixing a preformed Au nanoparticle colloidal solution with the precursors of amine-alcohol-silicate, prior to the sol–gel transition. The organic–inorganic hybrid (OIH) nanocomposites were synthetized by sol–gel method by reaction of amino-functionalized polyether and a siloxane functionalized with a terminal epoxy group. The obtained homogeneous, high transparent and stable materials exhibit enhanced optical and electrical properties derived from plasmonic effects associated with the size and form of the nanoparticle dopants which show to be preserved during the synthesis steps. Performed electrochemical impedance spectroscopy revealed that OIH gels doped with AuNPs exhibit low conductivity that shows to be slightly dependent on dispersed Au particle sizes. The characterization of this materials by current–voltage (I–V) measurements shows that these materials exhibit an electrical stability within an range of applied potential of about 5 V and suggests that charge transfer mechanism is strongly dependent on the potential applied across the OIH gel as observed by testing different charge transfer models: space-charge-limited current, Poole–Frenkel, Schottky emission and hopping conduction or the Schottky-Simmons. The results obtained from the characterization the electrochemical properties shows that the produced material to be relevant for the potential application of OIH embedded AuNPs nanocomposites in non-volatile organic memory devices.