Core-shell chiral polymeric-metallic particles obtained in a single step by concurrent light induced processes

Core-shell architecture enables to impart unique customized properties to microparticles, through the proper selection of composition and aggregation state of the inner and outer materials. Here, the synthesis of microparticles with a chiral dielectric core and a metallic shell of gold nanoparticles is demonstrated. The chiral core is obtained by UV induced polymerization of the self-organized droplets of a cholesteric reactive mesogen in a chloroauric acid aqueous solution. Gold nanoparticles precipitation contemporarily occurs upon UV irradiation, covering the microparticles surface. Electron microscopy and optical spectroscopy investigations give evidence that the degree of coverage of the core by gold nanoparticles, with size less than 100 nm, depends on the chloroauric acid concentration, while their aggregation is influenced by the polymeric surface morphology. The optical properties of the chiral microparticles are modified by the gold shell. Specifically, gold coating of dye doped chiral microparticles, working as Bragg onion resonators, clearly improves the stability of omnidirectional microlasers. The proposed strategy, due to the flexibility of the chiral material and of the method, opens a route toward fabrication of microdevices with wide control over light manipulation, in term of intensity, polarization, generation.