Preparation and optical limiting properties of carbon nanotubes coated with Au nanoparticle composites embedded in silica gel-glass

Au nanoparticle (NP) coated carbon nanotubes (CNTs) (CNTs@AuNPs) embedded in silica gel-glass (CNTs@AuNPs/silica gel-glass) were prepared by the sol-gel technique. Subsequent analysis confirmed the successful introduction of the CNTs@AuNPs to the silica gel-glass. Coating with AuNPs dramatically improved the mechanical properties of the silica gel-glass matrix, despite the higher Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET) specific surface area and pore volume of the CNTs@AuNPs/silica gel-glass compared with CNT/silica gel-glass. The optical limiting (OL) properties of the CNTs@AuNPs measured at a laser wavelength of 532 nm were slightly weaker after introduction into the solid-state matrix. This reduction is probably attributed to the synergistic nonlinear optical effects of reverse saturable absorption arising from the CNTs and saturable absorption from the AuNPs embedded in the silica gel-glass.