2017 journal article

Nanoscale steady-state temperature gradients within polymer nanocomposites undergoing continuous-wave photothermal heating from gold nanorods

NANOSCALE, 9(32), 11605–11618.

By: S. Maity n, W. Wu  n, J. Tracy  n, L. Clarke n  & J. Bochinski n 

TL;DR: Photothermal heating in this manner has potential utility in creating unique thermal processing conditions for outcomes such as driving chemical reactions, inducing crystallinity changes, or enhancing degradation processes in a manner unachievable by conventional heating methods. (via Semantic Scholar)
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Source: Web Of Science
Added: August 6, 2018

Anisotropically-shaped metal nanoparticles act as nanoscale heaters via excitation of a localized surface plasmon resonance, utilizing a photothermal effect which converts the optical energy into local heat.