SPUTTERING onto LIQUIDS (SoL) is a green technique aiming at producing colloidal solutions of small nanoparticles without additional reducing and/or stabilizing reagents. You can find more in the open access review written together with the colleagues from UMONS.

I worked on the SoL topic as a postdoctoral researcher during my stay at the University of Mons (UMONS). I joined Prof. Konstantinidis at the laboratory of Plasma-Surface Interaction Chemistry (ChIPS) in April 2019 and worked on the SOLUTIoN project supported by F.N.R.S. until January 2023.

The work has started with the assembly of the vacuum chamber, which has received several upgrades. These upgrades include the installation of thermocouple connections for in situ temperature measurements inside the liquid, as well as the implementation of a UV-vis setup for operando observations of nanoparticle formation during magnetron sputtering.

Sputtering of copper onto castor oil as an example of the typical SoL experiment.

12 peer-reviewed articles have been published

Protsak M., Biliak K., Nikitin D., Pleskunov P., Tosca M., Ali-Ogly S., Hanuš J., Hanyková L., Červenková V., Sergievskaya A., Konstantinidis S., Cornil D., Cornil J., Cieslar M., Košutová T., Popelář T., Ondič L., Choukourov A. (2024) One-step synthesis of photoluminescent nanofluids by direct loading of reactively sputtered cubic ZrN nanoparticles into organic liquids, Nanoscale, 16, 2452-2465, doi.org/10.1039/D3NR03999D – open access

Konstantinidis S, Bol F-E, Savorianakis G, Umek P, Sergievskaya A (2024) Characterization of the nanoparticle suspension by operando absorption spectrophotometry during sputtering onto liquids. Instrumentation Science & Technology, 52:125-137, doi.org/10.1080/10739149.2023.2223627

Eneren P, Sergievskaya A, Aksoy YT,  Umek P, Konstantinidis S, Vetrano MR (2023) Time-resolved in situ nanoparticle size evolution during magnetron sputtering onto liquids. Nanoscale Advances, 5, 4809-4818, doi.org/10.1039/D3NA00312D – open access

Sergievskaya A, Alem H, Konstantinidis S (2023) Magnetron sputtering onto nonionic surfactant for 1-step preparation of metal nanoparticles without additional chemical reagents. Nanotechnology 34:265601. doi.org/10.1088/1361-6528/acc7a9

Sergievskaya A, Absil R, Chauvin A, Yusenko K. V, Veselý J, Godfroid T, Konstantinidis S (2023) Sputtering onto Liquids: How Does the Liquid Viscosity Affect the Formation of Nanoparticles and Metal Films? Phys Chem Chem Phys 25:2803-2809.  doi.org/10.1039/D2CP03038A

Biliak K, Nikitin D, Ali-Ogly S, Protsak M, Pleskunov P, Tosca M,  Sergievskaya A, Cornil D, Cornil J, Konstantinidis S, Košutová T, Černochová Z, Štepánek P, Hanuš J, Kousal J, Hanyková L, Krakovsky I, Choukourov A (2023) Plasmonic Ag/Cu/PEG nanofluids prepared when solids meet liquids in the gas phase. Nanoscale Adv 5:955-969. doi.org/10.1039/D2NA00785A – open access

Patel K, Sergievskaya A, Chauhan S, Konstantinidis S (2022) Heating of liquid substrate by low-pressure sputtering plasma. J Appl Phys 131:203301. doi.org/10.1063/5.0089214

Sergievskaya A, Chauvin A, Konstantinidis S (2022) Sputtering onto liquids: a critical review. Beilstein J Nanotechnol 13:10–53. doi.org/10.3762/bjnano.13.2 – open access

Chauvin A, Sergievskaya A, Fucikova A, et al (2021) Insights into the growth of nanoparticles in liquid polyol by thermal annealing. Nanoscale Adv 3:4780–4789. doi.org/10.1039/D1NA00222H – open access

Sergievskaya A, O’Reilly A, Chauvin A, et al (2021) Magnetron sputter deposition of silver onto castor oil: The effect of plasma parameters on nanoparticle properties. Colloids Surfaces A Physicochem Eng Asp 615:126286. doi.org/10.1016/j.colsurfa.2021.126286

Sergievskaya A, O’Reilly A, Alem H, et al (2021) Insights on the Formation of Nanoparticles Prepared by Magnetron Sputtering Onto Liquids: Gold Sputtered Onto Castor Oil as a Case Study. Front Nanotechnol 3. doi.org/10.3389/fnano.2021.710612 – open access

Chauvin A, Sergievskaya A, El Mel A-A, et al (2020) Co-sputtering of gold and copper onto liquids: a route towards the production of porous gold nanoparticles. Nanotechnology 31:455303. doi.org/10.1088/1361-6528/abaa75