Statistics

Chemistry

Scattering

Materials science

Chromatography

Optoelectronics

Extinction (optical mineralogy)

Physics

Nanomaterials

Rayleigh scattering

Power law

Optics

Molecular physics

Quantum mechanics

Nanotechnology

Mathematics

Light scattering

Condensed matter physics

Wavelength

Analytical Chemistry (journal)

Spectral line

Nanosheet

Nature Communications

Extinction spectra of nanomaterial suspensions can be dominated by light scattering, hampering quantitative spectral analysis. No simple models exist for the wavelength-dependence of the scattering coefficients in suspensions of arbitrary-sized, high-aspect-ratio nanoparticles. Here, suspensions of BN, talc, GaS, Ni(OH) 2 , Mg(OH) 2 and Cu(OH) 2 nanosheets are used to explore non-resonant scattering in wide-bandgap 2D nanomaterials. Using an integrating sphere, scattering coefficient ( σ ) spectra were measured for a number of size-selected fractions for each nanosheet type. Generally, σ scales as a power-law with wavelength in the non-resonant regime: σ ( λ )∝[ λ /〈 L 〉] − m , where 〈 L 〉 is the mean nanosheet length. For all materials, the scattering exponent, m , forms a master-curve, transitioning fro m m = 4 to m = 2, as the characteristic nanosheet area increases, indicating a transition from Rayleigh to van der Hulst scattering. In addition, once material density and refractive index are factored out, ...

Non-resonant light scattering in dispersions of 2D nanosheets