Synthesis, characterization and nonlinear optical response of polyelectrolyte-stabilized copper hydroxide and copper oxide colloidal nanohybrids

In the present work, the synthesis and characterization of polyelectrolyte-stabilized copper-based nanohybrids with tunable sizes and chemical composition are reported. More precisely, highly stable poly(sodium-4-styrenesulfonate) PSS-Cu(OH)2 and PSS-CuO/Cu(OH)2 nanohybrids are synthesized and characterized in terms of their chemical composition and morphology by X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy (XPS) and Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM) respectively. Moreover, their nonlinear optical (NLO) response is systematically investigated by means of the Z-scan technique under different excitation conditions, i.e., 50 fs, 800 nm and 4 ns, 532 nm laser pulses. The findings denote that the size and chemical composition of nanoparticles, defining the surface plasmon resonance frequency, along with the excitation laser parameters (pulse duration and wavelength) affect greatly the NLO response of these nanohybrids. To the best of our knowledge it is the first time that such copper-based nanohybrids are synthesized and investigated towards their third-order NLO response. The results suggest an efficient strategy for preparing copper hydroxide and copper oxide colloidal nanohybrids exhibiting at-will NLO properties for specific optoelectronic and photonic applications.