Laser-induced photoexcited audible sound effect based on reticular 2-bromo-2-methylpropionic acid modified Fe3O4 nanoparticle aggregates

Abstract

Reticular 2-bromo-2-methylpropionic acid (BMPA) modified Fe₃O₄ nanoparticle aggregates with novel acoustic properties, namely the photoexcited audible sound (PEAS) effect, were prepared by a laser-induced irradiation method. Their morphology was observed by Lorentz transmission electron microscopy. Their chemical structure, crystal composition, and magnetic properties were analyzed using infrared spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction, and a magnetic property measurement instrument, respectively. It is found that the nanoparticle aggregates appeared reticular, with the size of the BMPA modified Fe₃O₄ nanoparticles being 5.5 ± 0.4 nm. The saturation magnetization values of the BMPA modified Fe₃O₄ nanoparticles and associated aggregates were 59.99 and 63.51 emu g⁻¹, respectively. The reticular BMPA modified nanoparticle aggregates can produce strong PEAS signals under very weak laser irradiation with great stability and repeatability. The emitted PEAS signals possessed strong specificity, suitable decay time and a large amount of information under a very weak laser power and can be detected by the human ear without any special detection equipment. Subsequently, a heat transfer model was constructed for the simulation of the possible mechanism of the PEAS effect using COMSOL software. The simulation results showed that the aggregates have a fast heat transfer rate with the temperature increasing to 480 K in only 0.25 s and 600 K in 5 s, respectively, meeting the requirements of the vapor explosion mechanism. Therefore, we realized that the possible mechanism of the PEAS effect of the reticular BMPA modified Fe₃O₄ nanoparticle aggregates is laser-induced fast heat transfer and vapor explosion in situ, resulting in the observed audible sound phenomenon. This novel PEAS effect has potential for application in materials science, biomedical engineering and other fields.