We report the observation of photoluminescence emission from airborne gold, silver, and copper nanoparticles. A continuous wave 532 nm laser was employed for excitation. Photoluminescence from gold nanoparticles carried in a nitrogen gas flow was both spectrally resolved and directly imaged in situ using an intensified charge-coupled device camera. The simultaneously detected Raman signal from the nitrogen molecules enables quantitative estimation of the photoluminescence quantum yield of the gold nanoparticles. Photoluminescence from metal nanoparticles carried in a gas flow provides a potential tool for operando imaging of plasmonic metal nanoparticles in aerosol reactions.

我们报告了对空气中金、银和铜纳米粒子的光致发光发射的观察。采用连续波 532 nm 激光进行激发。在氮气流中携带的金纳米粒子的光致发光既可以光谱解析，也可以使用增强的电荷耦合器件相机直接原位成像。同时检测到的来自氮分子的拉曼信号能够定量估计金纳米粒子的光致发光量子产率。气流中携带的金属纳米粒子的光致发光为气溶胶反应中等离子体金属纳米粒子的操作成像提供了一种潜在的工具。