Plasmon-assisted spin transition in gold nanostar@spin crossover heterostructures

Herein we report the design of core@shell nanoparticles formed by a metallic Au nanostar core and a spin-crossover shell based on the coordination polymer [Fe(Htrz)₂(trz)](BF₄). This procedure is general and has been extended to other metallic morphologies (nanorods, nanotriangles). Thanks to the photothermal effect arising from the plasmonic properties of the Au nanostar, 60% of iron centers undergo a thermal spin transition inside the thermal hysteresis triggered by a 808 nm laser low intensity irradiation. Compared to other Au morphologies, the great advantage of the nanostar shape arises from the hot spots created at the branches of the nanostar. These hot spots give rise to large NIR absorptions, making them ideal nanostructures for efficiently converting light into heat using low energy light, like that provided by a 808 nm laser.