STRUCTURAL, MORPHOLOGICAL AND OPTICAL INVESTIGATIONSOF SILVER NANOPARTICLES SYNTHESIZED BY SOL-GEL AUTOCOMBUSTIONMETHOD

[摘要] Effect of post-synthesis annealing temperature on the structural, morphological and opticalproperties of silver (Ag) nanoparticles has been investigated. Silver nanoparticles havebeen synthesized by sol-gel auto-combustion method. X-ray diffraction analysis revealedthat synthesized nanoparticles exhibit face-centered cubic structure with preferredorientation along (111) plane. Crystallite size has been observed to increase from 22 to 32nm as the annealing temperature upsurge from 350 to 550 ̊C. The crystal growth as aresult of high annealing temperature has been observed with slight shift in most intensediffraction peak toward smaller 2θ values. As the silver lattice grow with temperature, thelattice stain decreases due to larger grain boundaries. The optical studies revealed thatsilver nanoparticles exhibit a direct band gap of 2.51 eV. These large band gap silvernanoparticles when embedded in ceramics and glass would have potential applications inoptoelectronic devices.

[学科分类] 生物技术

[关键词] Sol-gel preparation;Nanocrystalline materials;Thermal annealing;Structural;Band gap;Grain boundaries