Continuous laser irradiation under ambient conditions: A simple way for the space-selective growth of gold nanoparticles inside a silica monolith

Thanks to the potential and various applications of metal–dielectric nanocomposites, their syntheses constitute an interesting subject in material research. In this work, we demonstrate the achievement of gold nanocrystals growth through a visible and continuous laser irradiation. The in situ and direct space-selective generation of metallic nanoparticles is localized under the surface within transparent silica monoliths. For that purpose, the porous silica monoliths are prepared using a sol–gel route and post-doped with gold precursors before the irradiation. The presence of Au nanoparticles inside the irradiated areas was evidenced using absorption spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction analysis and transmission electron microscopy. The comparison between the results obtained after a laser irradiation and by a simple heat-treatment reveals that the local precipitation of gold nanoparticles by continuous photo-irradiation occurs following a photo-thermal activated mechanism.