Fabrication, properties and applicationsof plasmene nanosheet

Plasmene nanosheets are free standing, one-particle thick superlattices from the self-assembly of plasmonic nanoparticles. Such nanosheets are a new class of two-dimensional (2D) nanomaterials with unique materials properties that differ from the constituent nanoparticles or corresponding bulk materials. Their optical, mechanical and ion-transporting properties could be tuned by adjusting the sizes and shapes of constituent nanoparticles, and controlling the interparticle spacing during self-assembly process. Here, we first discuss the viable plasmene nanosheet-fabrication approaches including programmable assembly, micro-hole confined assembly, liquid-liquid interfacial assembly and air-water interfacial assembly. Then, we describe the unique plasmonic and mechanical properties of plasmene nanosheets. Such soft nanosheets could further shaped into one-dimensional (1D) nanoribbons and three-dimensional (3D) origami by focused ion beam lithography. Finally, we show how these properties can be utilized for various technical applications including mechanical resonator, surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) substrate, drug identification and anti-counterfeit security label. We believe that plasmene nanosheets represent a “newborn” in the 2D materials family, which may lead to the design of novel metamaterials with unexpected applications.