Researchers have developed a new way to make smart multifunctional materials using a cleaner and simpler plasma-based process. The study, published in Advanced Nanocomposites , introduces a one-step approach that can simultaneously tune the structure of vanadium oxide and create gold nanoparticles within a flexible polymer film, overcoming limitations of conventional manufacturing methods that often require high temperatures or additional chemical reducing agents.
“Smart materials based on vanadium oxides are attractive because they can change their optical properties in response to temperature, offering potential applications in energy-saving windows and adaptive coatings,” shares the study’s first author Zhehong Lu. “Gold nanoparticles, meanwhile, are known for converting light into heat and providing antibacterial effects.”
Combining these two materials efficiently, however, has been challenging because traditional methods usually involve multiple preparation steps and can lead to uneven distribution of nanoparticles.
To that end, the researchers used plasma-induced liquid chemistry (PiLC), a low-temperature and environmentally friendly technique, to directly construct vanadium oxide/gold nanoparticle composite films. “The plasma process generates highly active species that drive chemical transformations in the liquid environment, allowing vanadium oxide structures to be adjusted while gold nanoparticles form directly inside the polymer matrix,” explains Lu.
“We were surprised that a single plasma treatment step could achieve two important functions at the same time: controlling the chemical state of vanadium oxide and producing well-dispersed gold nanoparticles,” says senior and co-corresponding author Dan Sun. “This provides a new strategy for designing multifunctional materials without relying on complicated synthesis procedures.”
The resulting films showed temperature-dependent optical changes, enabling infrared light modulation, while the gold nanoparticles provided efficient near-infrared light-to-heat conversion. “The combination also produced enhanced antibacterial activity under light irradiation against common bacterial species,” adds Sun.
Beyond the specific composite developed here, the approach offers a new platform for designing next-generation smart coatings, responsive surfaces, and multifunctional materials where different properties can be integrated through a single, environmentally friendly manufacturing process.
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Contact the author: Zhehong Lu, College of Chemistry and Molecular Sciences, Henan University, luzhehong@henu.edu.cn.
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Advanced Nanocomposites
Experimental study
Not applicable
VOx/Au/PVA Nanocomposites Synthesized Through Plasma Liquid Chemistry: Simultaneous Vanadium Valence Control and in Situ Au Formation
The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.