Plasmon enhanced microalgal growth

Plasmon is the quantum of collective motions of mobile electrons. They interact strongly with light at certain wavelengths. The properties of the plasmon of nano particles can be varied by changing the size the particle. Now it was used to enhance the backscattering of light so as to promote the growth of microalgals.

Photoactivity of green microalgae is nonmonotonic across the electromagnetic spectrum. Experiments on Chlamydomonas reinhardtii green alga and Cyanothece 51142 green-blue alga show that wavelength specific backscattering in the blue region of the spectrum from Ag nanoparticles, caused by localized surface plasmon resonance, can promote algal growth by more than 30%. The wavelength and light flux of the backscattered field can be controlled by varying the geometric features and/or concentration of the nanoparticles. © 2010 American Institute of Physics.
doi:10.1063/1.3467263