Migration of absorbing nanoparticles through temperature gradients

We present the massive migration of metallic nanoparticles (NPs) due to their interaction with thermal gradients. A single-mode optical fiber is introduced into an ethanol solution with silver NPs of size between 0.5 1 µm- radius. When the laser radiation of λ = 455 nm leaving the optical fiber illuminates the suspended silver NPs, they absorb part of the energy and remit it as heat to the surrounding environment. This causes the formation of a thermal gradient in each particle and the medium. When the NPs are near the temperature gradient generated in the medium, they move to the high or low-temperature zone, the direction depending on the distance between the NPs and the tip of the optical fiber. The phenomenon that describes this behavior is called ∆α photophoresis. The particles present a considerable absorption on the illuminated side, generating a temperature difference relative to the non-illuminated side. The heat is conducted through the medium that surrounds the particles, giving rise to a momentum exchange between the molecules of the medium and the NPs. This exchange causes either an attraction or a repulsion of the NPs relative to the end optical fiber. The displacement of the NPs stems from the influence of the ∆T force, whose direction is equal to the propagation of the beam, and the force ∆α, with the opposite direction on each NP. We also study the appropriate optical and thermal conditions that enhance the migration of the silver NPs.