Evaporation of droplets of silver nanoparticle dispersions on metal surfaces

The formation of ring-shaped deposits during the evaporation of droplets of silver nanoparticle dispersions on aluminum, copper, and nickel substrates has been studied, and the geometric characteristics and conductivity of the deposits have been determined. The formation process of the deposits on the above substrates has been shown to exhibit some peculiarities to compare with that on hydrophilic glass substrates. These peculiarities lead to substantial differences in the geometric parameters and structure of the deposits formed on substrates of different natures. Therewith, the qualitative regularities of variations in the geometric parameters and conductivity of the deposits with the size (numerical concentration) of silver nanoparticles remain preserved.     

Effect of temperature on ring-shaped-deposit formated at evaporation of droplets of silver-nanoparticle dispersions

The effect of temperature is studied on the geometric parameters and conductivity of ring-shaped deposits formed at evaporation of droplets of dispersions of silver nanoparticles on hydrophilic (glass) and hydrophobic (copper) substrates. It has been shown that increasing temperature leads to substantial changes in the deposit profile. Therewith, the effects of temperature on droplet evaporation on glass and copper substrates are different. It has been found that the lateral conductivity of a ring-shaped deposit formed on a glass substrate increases stepwise similarly to a percolation transition at a droplet-evaporation temperature of 58°C. It has been suggested that the reason for the temperature effect is related to a change in the ratio between the rates of physicochemical processes occurring at different stages of droplet evaporation.     

Percolation transitions in composites formed by the evaporation of droplets of silver nanoparticle dispersions

Conducting properties are studied for deposits that result from evaporating droplets of dispersions of silver nanoparticles with average diameters of 6.2 and 11.9 nm. The deposits represent two ring-shaped structures with diameters of several dozen and several hundred micrometers, which are formed along the perimeter of an evaporating droplet. It is shown that only the external ring-shaped deposit is an electric conductor. The dependence of its conductivity on the content of metal precursor (AgNO₃) in a solution used to synthesize nanoparticles appears to be similar to a percolation transition. Mechanisms of charge transfer in the examined ring-shaped deposit are discussed assuming that it represents a metal-polymer composite.     

Doping of processable conducting poly(m‐aminophenol) with silver nanoparticles

Processable poly(m‐aminophenol) (PmAP) was synthesized using ammonium persulfate (APS) oxidant in 0.6 M sodium hydroxide solution at room temperature. Soluble silver hydroxide ammonium complex was formed by dissolving silver nitrate in excess liquor ammonia and the thermal decomposition of this complex easily produced silver nanoparticle. Then, in situ silver nanoparticle‐doped PmAP film was obtained by casting PmAP film from dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) with silver hydroxide ammonia complex mixture at 140°C. The nanocomposite was characterized by ultraviolet‐visible spectroscopy, Fourier transformed spectroscopy, transmission electron microscopy (TEM), scanning electron microscopy, electron dispersion spectroscopy, thermogravimetric analysis, and X‐ray diffraction analysis. The average size of the nanoparticle was around 130–140 nm as confirmed by the TEM analysis. Synthesized PmAP silver nanocomposite showed the highest DC‐conductivity of 1.03 × 10^?6 S/cm. From the above characterizations, it can be said that silver nanoparticle shows some doping effect on the conductivity of PmAP. The doping level of the silver nanoparticle inside the polymer was optimized in terms of DC‐conductivity of the silver nanoparticle‐doped PmAP film. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Preparation of conducting silver paste with Ag nanoparticles prepared by e-beam irradiation

Conducting silver paste was prepared by using Ag nanoparticles which were synthesized by e-beam irradiation method (from KAERI); its conductivity was comparatively determined with Ag nanoparticles which were prepared by thermolysis method (commercial). The silver nanoparticles with the diameter of approximately 150 nm size prepared by e-beam irradiation were mixed with glass frit and sintered for 1 h at 500 °C. It is presumably concluded that the wt% of silver nanoparticle, size distribution and homogenous dispersibility of Ag nanoparticles in the pastes are the critical factors for the high conductivity of the paste. Among the various wt% of silver nanoparticle in the conducting silver pastes, silver paste with 90 wt% of silver nanoparticle has the highest conductivity as 1.6×10⁴ S cm^?1. This conductivity value is 1.6 times higher than the Ag pastes which were prepared with silver nanoparticles obtained by thermolysis method.     

Formation of silver nanoparticles in deoxyribonucleic acid-poly(o-methoxyaniline) hybrid: a novel nano-biocomposite

A novel nano-biocomposite of silver and poly(o-methoxy aniline) (POMA)/DNA hybrid has been prepared by adding DNA solution to an aqueous solution of POMA (emeraldine base, EB) and AgNO(3) mixture. The mixture was aged for 10 days and was freeze-dried to form the hybrid nanocomposite (weight fraction of DNA = 0.75). FESEM pictures show a fibrillar network morphology of the biomolecular hybrid with silver nanoparticles on its surface. The TEM picture also corroborates silver nanoparticle formation in the biomolecular hybrid, and the denser population of nanoparticles in the TEM micrograph as compared to that in the SEM micrograph indicates that the nanoparticles are present inside the fibrils in greater proportion. The dc conductivity value of the hybrid indicates that POMA (EB) is doped by silver ion and the doped POMA form complexes with DNA through electrostatic interaction of the radical cation of POMA (emeraldine salt form, ES) and the DNA anion. During the doping process and Ag nanoparticle formation, a fluctuation of the pi band to polaron band transition peak occurs together with a complementary fluctuation of the polaron band to pi* band transition peak. After 53 h of aging, the former shows a slow but continuous red shift with aging time. This has been attributed to the slow uncoiling of POMA on the DNA surface. The conformation and crystal structure of DNA remain intact during the nano-biocomposite formation. The dc conductivity value of the nano-biocomposite is almost the same as that of the pure POMA-DNA hybrid at the same composition, but the I-V characteristic curve of the nano-biocomposite is somewhat different showing an insulating region on low applied voltage. At higher applied voltage, it shows a semiconducting property characterizing the large band gap semiconducting behavior of the nano-biocomposite.     

Electrochemical determination of chromium(VI) using metallic nanoparticle-modified carbon screen-printed electrodes

Carbon screen-printed electrodes (CSPEs) modified with metal nanoparticles present an interesting alternative in the determination of chromium(VI) by differential pulse voltammetry (DPV).Metallic silver and gold nanoparticle deposits have been obtained by electrochemical deposition. Scanning electron microscopy measurements show that the electrochemically synthesized silver and gold nanoparticles are deposited in aggregated form.The detection limit for the analytical procedures developed in this work were 8.5 × 10⁻⁷ and 4.0 × 10⁻⁷ M for silver and gold nanoparticle-modifed CSPE, respectively.In terms of reproducibility, the precision of the above-mentioned method was calculated at 6.7% in %R.S.D. values for silver and 3.21% for gold nanoparticle CSPE.     

Electrical conductivity in patterned silver-mesoporous titania nanocomposite thin films: towards robust 3D nano-electrodes

The space-resolved electrical conductivity of patterned silver nanoparticle (NP) arrays embedded in mesoporous TiO(2) thin films was locally evaluated using a conductive-tip AFM. A remarkable conductivity dependence on the film mesostructure and metal NP loading was observed, confirming a three-dimensional current flow throughout the nanocomposite.     

以葡聚糖-乙二胺聚合物为载体制备纳米银

以葡聚糖-乙二胺聚合物为载体制备纳米银.首先合成葡聚糖-乙二胺聚合物,并用紫外光谱红外光谱对聚合物进行表征;该聚合物与硝酸银反应生成葡聚糖-乙二胺聚合物-银配合物,再通过化学还原或光化学还原法使配合物中的银离子转变成单质银纳米粒,以透射电子显微镜激光纳米测定仪对制备的纳米银进行测定.结果表明制备出了粒径为23.1nm的纳米单质银.以葡聚糖-乙二胺聚合物为载体制备纳米银的方法是可行的.     

Formation of ring-shaped deposits as a result of evaporating droplets of dispersions of silver nanoparticles and study of their fine structure

Scanning electron microscopy is employed to study ring-shaped deposits formed at different time moments of evaporating droplets of silver colloidal solutions on a glass substrate. It is shown that, in addition to an external fringe, several rings are formed at intermediate stages of evaporation; these rings are, in the course of time, transformed into one dense fringe and a transition zone adjacent to its internal side. The time dependences of the height and width of the fringe are determined. It is established that an increase in the width and height of the fringe is due to the transfer of silver nanoparticles to this region, which play a key role in imparting specific structural organization to the fringe. It is noted that the height of the formed fringe may be qualitatively determined by energy dispersive X-ray microanalysis.     

Self-assembly of silver nanoparticles: synthesis, stabilization, optical properties, and application in surface-enhanced Raman scattering

Silver nanoparticle aggregates were synthesized in large scale using resorcinol under alkaline condition to obtain an assembly of silver clusters. Stable dispersion of the cluster in aqueous medium has been examined out of resorcinol-capped silver nanoparticle assemblies. The UV-vis spectroscopy during the particle evolution has been studied in detail. From the high-resolution TEM (HRTEM) image and XRD pattern it was confirmed that the particles are made of pure silver only. The capping action of resorcinol has been authenticated from the FTIR spectra. UV-vis spectroscopy and TEM images reveal that the temperature, effect of vibrational energy, heat shock, and time-dependent particle evolution have unique bearing on the stability and surface properties of the clusters. The concentrations of silver nitrate, resorcinol, and NaOH have important influence on the particle evolution and its size. TEM images incite us to examine the aggregates to capitulate surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) to the single molecular level using crystal violet (CV) and cresyl fast violet (CFV) as molecular probes. The SERS intensity of CV increases with increasing the size of the silver aggregate.     

Determination of lamotrigine by adsorptive stripping voltammetry using silver nanoparticle-modified carbon screen-printed electrodes

Carbon screen-printed electrodes (CSPE) modified with silver nanoparticles present an interesting alternative in the determination of lamotrigine (LTG) using differential pulse adsorptive stripping voltammetry.Metallic silver nanoparticle deposits have been obtained by electrochemical deposition. Scanning electron microscopy measurements show that the electrochemically synthesized silver nanoparticles are deposited in aggregated form.The detection limit for this analytical procedure was 3.72 × 10⁻⁷ M. In terms of reproducibility, the precision of the above mentioned method in %R.S.D. values was calculated at 2.58%.The method was applied satisfactorily to the determination of LTG in pharmaceutical preparations.     

Effect of nanoparticle sizes and number densities on the evaporation and dryout characteristics for strongly pinned nanofluid droplets

A microfabricated linear heater array operating in a constant voltage mode has been used to study the effect of nanoparticle size on the evaporation and dryout characteristics of strongly pinned nanofluid droplets. Four different nanofluids have been tested, containing 2-nm Au, 30-nm CuO, 11-nm Al2O3, and 47-nm Al2O3 nanoparticles, each of 5-muL droplets with 0.5 vol % in water. Nanofluid droplets show strong pinning along the droplet perimeter and, upon evaporation, leave a ring-shaped nanoparticle stain. Particle size is seen to have a clear and strong effect on the dryout stain pattern, while heater temperature seems to have little effect. With the assumption of axi-symmetry, tomographic deconvolution of measured data from the linear heater array allows for examination of the spatially and temporally resolved temperature and heat flux characteristics of the evaporating nanofluid droplets.     

Electric detection of DNA with PDMS microgap electrodes and silver nanoparticles

In this work a novel microdevice sensor has been developed by plating gold on the PDMS surface to generate a sandwich-type gap electrode for DNA detection. The microdevice utilizes a gold band electrode-PDMS-gold band electrode configuration and the minimum detectable volume could be as low as 5 μL. The 20 μm PDMS-based gap was chemically modified with DNA capture probes and DNA sandwich hybrids were formed with the addition of DNA target and silver nanoparticle probes. To increase detection sensitivity, parallel detection zones have been developed in which the relevant resistances decrease substantially upon hybridyzation. By measuring the change in electrical conductivity, the DNA target in the concentration range of 1000-0.1 nM can be assayed and the limit of lowest detectable concentration was achieved at 0.01 nM.     

The Influence of the Capping Agent on the Oxidation of Silver Nanoparticles: Nano‐impacts versus Stripping Voltammetry

The influence of capping agents on the oxidation of silver nanoparticles was studied by using the electrochemical techniques of anodic stripping voltammetry and anodic particle coulometry (“nano‐impacts”). Five spherical silver nanoparticles each with a different capping agent (branched polyethylenimine (BPEI), citrate, lipoic acid, polyethylene glycol (PEG) and polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP)) were used to perform comparative experiments. In all cases, regardless of the capping agent, complete oxidation of the single nanoparticles was seen in anodic particle coulometry. The successful quantitative detection of the silver nanoparticle size displays the potential application of anodic particle coulometry for nanoparticle characterisation. In contrast, for anodic stripping voltammetry using nanoparticles drop casting, it was observed that the capping agent has a very significant effect on the extent of silver oxidation. All five samples gave a low oxidative charge corresponding to partial oxidation. It is concluded that the use of anodic stripping voltammetry to quantify nanoparticles is unreliable, and this is attributed to nanoparticle aggregation.     

A novel method for the anodic stripping voltammetry determination of Sb(III) using silver nanoparticle-modified screen-printed electrodes

Carbon screen-printed electrodes (CSPE) modified with silver nanoparticles present an interesting alternative in the determination of antimony using differential pulse anodic stripping voltammetry.Metallic silver nanoparticle deposits have been obtained by direct electrochemical deposition. Scanning electron microscopy measurements show that the electrochemically synthesized silver nanoparticles are deposited in aggregated form. Any undue effects caused by the presence of foreign ions in the solution were also analyzed to ensure that common interferents in the determination of antimony by ASV, such as bismuth, do not influence the electrochemical response of the latter element. The detection limit for Sb(III) obtained was 6.79 × 10⁻¹⁰ M. In terms of reproducibility, the precision of the above mentioned method in %RSD values was calculated at 3.50%. The method was applied to determine levels of antimony in seawater samples and pharmaceutical preparations.     

Preparation and Characterization of a Composite of Silver Iodide and Synthetic Mordenite

A composite material made up of AgI and the potassium form of mordenite has been prepared by treating the silver form of synthetic mordenite with potassium iodide. The composite as well as the silver and potassium forms of mordenite have been characterised by X-ray powder diffractometry, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, EDS analyses and ac conductivity measurements. It has been inferred that, in the composite material, AgI grows at the entrance of the zeolite channels without forming a continuous conducting phase. The silver form of mordenite has been proved to be a silver ion conductor by dc conductivity measurements.     

Label‐Free Electrochemical Imaging of Latent Fingerprints on Metal Surfaces

A label‐free electrochemical method based on scanning electrochemical microscopy (SECM) has been developed to image latent fingerprints with high resolution on five kinds of metal surfaces (platinum, gold, silver, copper and stainless steel), as it could measure the minor conductivity differences of the substrate surface and avoid the interference of the background‐color. The images of sebaceous fingerprints on clean metals were revealed by SECM with ferrocene methanol acting as a redox mediator to detect the topology of the fingerprint deposits in constant‐height feedback mode. Inhibition of electrochemical processes on areas of the surface masked by the insulating fingerprint residues generated a negative image of the fingerprint.     

Defining rules for the shape evolution of gold nanoparticles

The roles of silver ions and halides (chloride, bromide, and iodide) in the seed-mediated synthesis of gold nanostructures have been investigated, and their influence on the growth of 10 classes of nanoparticles that differ in shape has been determined. We systematically studied the effects that each chemical component has on the particle shape, on the rate of particle formation, and on the chemical composition of the particle surface. We demonstrate that halides can be used to (1) adjust the reduction potential of the gold ion species in solution and (2) passivate the gold nanoparticle surface, both of which control the reaction kinetics and thus enable the selective synthesis of a series of different particle shapes. We also show that silver ions can be used as an underpotential deposition agent to access a different set of particle shapes by controlling growth of the resulting gold nanoparticles through surface passivation (more so than kinetic effects). Importantly, we show that the density of silver coverage can be controlled by the amount and type of halide present in solution. This behavior arises from the decreasing stability of the underpotentially deposited silver layer in the presence of larger halides due to the relative strengths of the Ag(+)/Ag(0)-halide and Au(+)/Au(0)-halide interactions, as well as the passivation effects of the halides on the gold particle surface. We summarize this work by proposing a set of design considerations for controlling the growth and final shape of gold nanoparticles prepared by seed-mediated syntheses through the judicious use of halides and silver ions.     

A study of the silver form of a natural zeolitic material of the clinoptilolite type

The silver forms of a natural zeolitic material (from the East Slovakian deposit) on the clinoptilolite type has been prepared. The silver forms of the natural zeolitic material were investigated by X-ray powder diffractometry, IR spectroscopy, ESCA measurements, scanning electron microscopy and conductivity measurements. Depending on the preparation conditions, the content of silver ions in the zeolitic products was found to be in the range from 16 to 24%. In the sample with a silver loading of 18.6%, the silver uptake is due to an ion exchange process, mostly involving Na(I), Ca(II) and Mg(II) ions.