Antifungal Activity Based on Enhancement of Thermoplasmonic Properties of Hybrid Nanostructures Prepared by Laser Ablation in Liquid

We present an experimental study of the thermoplasmonic properties of hybrid nanostructures prepared by laser ablation in liquid. The hybrid nanostructures are core/shell nanoparticles (C/S NPs). The core consists of gold, silver, and copper, and the shell is TiO₂ for all the metals in different aqueous polymeric solutions. The aqueous polymeric solutions are 1% polymers (PVP, PVA, and PEG) dissolved separately in distilled water (DW). The thermoplasmonic properties are studied by monitoring the local temperature increase of the C/S NP samples as they are heated by laser beams of different wavelengths. The results showed that the plasmonic properties can be tuned by controlling the structure of the core/shell nanoparticles. In addition, the results showed that not only an extreme tunability in the surface plasmon resonances but also considerably enhanced photo-thermal effects in terms of temperature rise can be obtained. The experiments proved that the proposed nanosystems achieved high inhibition efficiency against Candida fungus under CW laser illumination. Furthermore, this result opens the possibility of using the C/S NPs as efficient heat sources in many applications, especially in the disinfection and sterilization of medical equipment.