Synthesis, Properties and Applications of Gold or Silver Nanoparticles Loaded Intelligent Hybrid Microgels

The noble metal nanoparticles (NMNPs) including gold or silver nanoparticles loaded intelligent hybrid microgels are the advanced functional materials which combine the unique properties of both the NMNPs and intelligent microgels. Their prominent characteristic is that a variety of properties of the loaded NMNPs within the microgels can be tuned by external stimulus, or the external stimulus can be sensed by determining the change of their properties. Based on their morphological structure, the reported gold or silver nanoparticles loaded intelligent hybrid microgels are classified into four types in this paper, including randomly filling type, core-shell structure type, surface covering type and sandwich structure type. Their respective features and main synthesis methods are introduced. Additionally, the characterization methods of their structure and composition, their stimulus responsiveness, tunable localized surface plasmon resonance, surface enhancement effect and fluorescence property are reviewed. The application research progress of the intelligent hybrid microgels in smart microreactor, microsensor, the substrate of surface enhanced Raman scattering, drug delivery carrier and biological imaging are also presented. Finally, their research direction and development outlook are commented.