Surface-enhanced Raman scattering of TSPP,Ag(II)TSPP,and Pb(II)TSPP adsorbed on AgI and AGCl colloids

Surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) was measured for meso-tetrakis(4-sulfonatophenyl)porphine (TSPP) and its metal derivatives Ag(II)TSPP and Pb(II)TSPP adsorbed on AgI colloids, and for TSPP adsorbed on AgCl colloids. The experiments show that TSPP molecules adsorbed on AgI colloids undergo a silver incorporation, while TSPP adsorbed on AgCl colloids are converted into the porphyrin diacid H₄TSPP²⁺ and the metalloporphyrin Ag(II)TSPP. The concentration dependences of SERS spectra for TSPP adsorbed on the two substrates are quite different.     

Influence of adsorbing species on properties of equilibrium silver iodide clusters

Thermodynamically stable AgI clusters were studied in the presence of high- and low-molecular-weight additives: polyethyleneimine (PEI) and dimethylformamide (DMF), respectively. Clusters containing up to 20 silver iodide pairs, roughly twice as many as in the system without PEI or DMF, have been observed. We show that the mechanism stabilizing these clusters is mixed adsorption with iodide ions at the AgI-electrolyte interface. We make it plausible that more strongly adsorbing additives give rise to ultralow interfacial tensions of the AgI-electrolyte interface, with perspectives for "reversible colloids."     

Synthesis, characterization and antibacterial activity against Gram positive and Gram negative bacteria of biomimetically coated silver nanoparticles

In the present work, we describe a simple procedure to produce biomimetically coated silver nanoparticles (Ag NPs), based on the postfunctionalization and purification of colloidal silver stabilized by citrate. Two biological capping agents have been used (cysteine Cys and glutathione GSH). The composition of the capped colloids has been ascertained by different techniques and antibacterial tests on GSH-capped Ag NPs have been conducted under physiological conditions, obtaining values of Minimum Inhibitory Concentration (MIC) of 180 and 15 μg/mL for Staphylococcus aureus and Escherichia coli, respectively. The antibacterial activity of these GSH capped NPs can be ascribed to the direct action of metallic silver NPs, rather than to the bulk release of Ag(+).     

Comparative study of the morphology, aggregation, adherence to glass, and surface-enhanced Raman scattering activity of silver nanoparticles prepared by chemical reduction of Ag+ using citrate and hydroxylamine

Two different silver colloids were prepared by chemical reduction of silver nitrate with trisodium citrate and hydroxylamine hydrochloride to compare their characteristics in relation to their possible use in surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) spectroscopy. The morphology and plasmon resonance of the single nanoparticles and aggregates integrating these colloids were characterized by means of UV-vis absortion spectroscopy and scanning electron microscopy, revealing important differences between each type of nanoparticle as concerns their physical properties. These metallic systems also manifested differences in the aggregation and the adherence to glass surfaces, revealing significant differences in the chemical surface properties of these nanoparticles. SERS and surface-enhanced IR also indicated the presence of interference bands which can overlap the spectra of the analyte, mainly in the case of the citrate colloid. All these differences have an important influence on the applicability of these nanostructured systems in SERS. In fact, the enhancement factor and spectral pattern of the SERS obtained by using alizarin as a molecule probe are different.     

Natural zeolitic material of the clinoptilolite type and its AgI form

The aim of this study was the preparation of the natural zeolitic material of the clinoptilolite type doped with silver iodide. Natural zeolite from the East Slovakian deposit was used. This natural zeolitic material doped with AgI (content of AgI: 28.5%) has been investigated by X-ray powder diffractometry, EDS analysis, scanning electron microscopy, IR spectroscopy and thermal analysis.     

Composite Materials of Synthetic Mordenite and AgI

Composite materials made up of silver iodide and synthetic mordenite in sodium Na-MD or potassium form K-MD have been prepared by sintering a mixture of silver iodide and Na-MD or K-MD, by modified way of preparation. The prepared composites Na-MD/AgI and K-MD/AgI were characterised by X-ray powder diffractometry and thermal analysis. By integrating certain X-ray peaks quantitative reaction values were obtained. The composite Na-MD/AgI with 19 wt% of AgI content was also characterised by EDS analysis and ac conductivity measurements.     

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.     

The dependence of photocatalytic activity and photoinduced self-stability of photosensitive AgI nanoparticles

AgI is instable under light irradiation owing to its photosensitive properties, while a supported Ag-AgI composite has been demonstrated to be a stable photocatalyst. However, seldom investigations have been focused on the photocatalytic activity (including deactivation) and photoinduced stability of the photosensitive AgI materials. In this study, the AgI nanoparticles were immobilized on the surface of Ag(8)W(4)O(16) nanorods by an anion-exchange route and their photocatalytic activities were evaluated by photocatalytic decomposition of methyl orange and phenol solutions under visible-light irradiation. A photoinduced self-stabilizing mechanism of the AgI nanoparticles was proposed to account for the formation of a stable Ag-AgI photocatalyst, namely, instable AgI can transform into a stable Ag-AgI photocatalyst after in situ formation of partial Ag on the surface of AgI nanoparticles. The photocatalytic performance of the immobilized AgI photocatalyst was greatly influenced by the formation of metallic Ag. With increasing repetitions of photocatalytic experiments, the initial deactivation was accompanied by the rapid increase of metallic Ag owing to the reduction of lattice Ag(+), while the subsequently stable activity corresponds to the formation of a stable Ag-AgI composite photocatalyst. Compared with the un-immobilized AgI photocatalyst, the immobilized AgI nanoparticles exhibited a higher and more stable photocatalytic performance.     

Preparation and characterization of a composite of silver iodide and synthetic zeolite ZSM5

A composite material made up of AgI and the potassium form of the synthetic zeolite ZSM5 has been prepared by treating the silver form of ZSM5 with potassium iodide. The composite has been characterised by X-ray powder diffractometry, IR and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, electron microsonde analyses and ac conductivity measurements. The Agl content in the composite material is 11.5%. On the basis of the conductivity data obtained for the composite material as well as for K-ZSM5, Ag-ZSM5, microcrystalline AgI and a physical mixture of AgI and K-ZSM5, it has been inferred that, in the composite material, AgI forms a thin conductive shell on the surface of the K-ZSM5 particles.     

PREPARATION AND THEIR ANTIBACTERIAL ACTIVITY OF ACTIVATED CARBON FIBER CONTAINING SILVER

Several kinds of activated carbon fiber(ACF),Granule Activated carbon(AC) containing silver ion or fine silver particle(Ag-ACF/AC) have been prepared by soaking ACF or AC in the salt solution of silver.Ag,AgCl and AgI compounds have been loaded onto the fibers:The stucture of the fibers was measured by scanning electron microscopy(SEM) and power X-ray diffraction(XRD),THe Ag content in the fiber was obtained by an Atomic absorption spectroscopy(AAS),The Ag^+ content in water after the antibacterial test was measured by an Inductively Coupled plasma(ICP) emission spectroscopy.Antibacterial test was carried out against Escherichia coli(E.coli) and Staphylococcus aureus(S.aureus).The results show that Ag-ACF/AC have strong antibacterial activity against E.Coli and S.aureus.After dealt with ACF/AC loading Ag,AgCl,AgI,no E.coli and S.aureus alive in solution can be detected.The analysis of Agcontent in water after antibacterial test showed that the content of Ag meet the quality requirement of the National Potable Water Standrd,It is indicated that ACF/AC-Ag in this experiment would be a safe antibacterial agent.     

Stability of silver colloids as substrate for surface enhanced Raman spectroscopy detection of dipicolinic acid

Silver colloids have been commonly used as substrates for surface enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS). It has been shown that SERS requires partial aggregation of the silver colloids. This study evaluates factors affecting the aggregative state of the silver colloids such as the age of the silver colloids and the aggregation as a result of addition of the analyte. The silver colloids are obtained from the chemical reduction of silver nitrate by sodium borohydride. Further oxidation of the sodium borohydride solution at room temperature results in concentration changes of the resulting silver colloids. Methods of controlling the sodium borohydride depletion are presented in this paper. The analyte used is dipicolinic acid, a molecular signature of Bacillus spores.     

Large-scale synthesis of size-controllable Ag nanoparticles by reducing silver halide colloids with different sizes

By reducing the colloidal silver halide, we successfully synthesized a series of micro-nano Ag particles.     

A Simple Technique for Submicron Scale Patterning of Silver Using Visible Light Interference

A novel, one step and simple methodology for the fabrication of submicron scale silver patterns is demonstrated. The photosensitivity of an organic silver salt has been utilized for this purpose of fabrication. The silver-organometallic compound is converted to metallic silver selectively in the illuminated regions. Surface morphology was studied by scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Energy dispersion spectroscopy (EDS) shows the presence of silver in the developed film. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) confirms the formation of metallic silver. Feature sizes of the order of 200 nm have been achieved using this technique.     

Photochemical formation of silver-gold (Ag?Au) composite colloids in solutions containing sodium alginate

Photochemical formation of colloidal silver, colloidal gold and silver-gold (Ag-Au) composite colloids under mild conditions has been studied. Irradiation of either aqueous AgCIO₄ or HAuCI₄ solution in the presence of sodium alginate (SA) with 253.7 nm light yielded colloidal silver or gold, whose particle diamter was 10-30 nm or 40-60 nm, respectively. The Ag-Au composite colloids consisting of mixtures of silver and gold domains (particle diameter 30-150 nm) have been prepared and their extinction spectra have been examined on the basis of a conventional Mie theory in combination with an effective medium theory to estimate the optical constants of these colloids. It has been shown that the extinction spectra of the Ag-Au composite colloids are completely different from those of Ag-Au alloy colloids, in that the former have two extinction maxima close to the colloidal extinction bands of pure silver and gold, in contrast to a single extinction maximum of the latter. The importance of natural, high-molecular carboxylic acids such as alginic acid in the photochemical formation of metal colloids and thin films has been stressed.     

Investigations of fundamental properties of the silver/silver iodide film electrode

A study is presented of the basic physicochemical properties of vacuum deposited silver/silver iodide film electrodes. X-ray analysis and electron microscopy yield information on the crystal structure and morphology of these films. The AgI was predominantly present in the γ modification. On the AgI surface irregularities are observed with diameters of 100 nm and lower. Aged surfaces show smaller irregularities than non-aged surfaces. The total roughness factor is estimated at 1.5 with an uncertainty of at least 10%. Methods are presented to determine the average film thickness and the conductivity of the film. The films used have a thickness of about 350 nm. The specific conductivity of the AgI film is approximately 10^?4 Ω^?1 cm^?1.     

One-step synthesis of silver nanoparticles by sonication or heating using amphiphilic block copolymer as templates

Block copolymer-supported Ag Nps (nanoparticles) have either a "cherry"-like or "raspberry"-like morphology [Antonietti, et al., Adv. Mater. 7 (1995) 1000-1005] depending on the amount of silver nitrate loading and the external conditions. Sonication favors silver nitrate and polyethyleneimine diffusion; the nucleation sites are well distributed in the micellar cores, so it is easy to form the cherry-like Ag NP colloids. However, when the amount of silver nitrate is decreased, it is heating that induces the formation of raspberry-like Ag NP colloids. The Ag NP colloids were investigated by transmission electron microscopy to demonstrate the nanosize dimensions and the location of the Ag NPs in the micelles. X-ray diffraction was employed to determine the crystal structure of the Ag NPs. UV-vis spectroscopy was employed for further qualitative characterization of the optical properties of Ag NPs.     

Redox-mediated synthesis and encapsulation of inorganic nanoparticles in shell-cross-linked cylindrical polyferrocenylsilane block copolymer micelles

Detailed studies of a new approach to the synthesis and encapsulation of silver and silver halide nanoparticles inside shell-cross-linked cylindrical block copolymer polyisoprene-block-polyferrocenyldimethylsilane (PI-b-PFS) micelles (1) through in situ redox reactions are reported. The cylindrical nanostructures 1 were prepared by the solution self-assembly of the PI-b-PFS diblock copolymer in the PI-selective solvent hexane followed by Pt(0)-catalyzed PI shell-cross-linking hydrosilylation reactions. The partial preoxidation of the swollen PFS core using tris(4-bromophenyl)aminium hexachloroantimonate [p-BrC6H4)3N][SbCl6] (2, Magic Blue) followed by redox reaction between the remaining Fe(II) centers in the PFS core and Ag(+) cations led to the formation of silver nanoparticles. High-resolution scanning transmission electron microscopy images of the resulting peapod structures provided a clear indication that the nanoparticles were encapsulated inside the micelles. The composition of the nanoparticles was analyzed by energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX). By combining the evolution of the UV-vis spectra of the reaction mixture and EDX measurements, we surprisingly found that silver halide seed particles were formed through a precipitation reaction at an early stage of the encapsulation process. The size of the silver nanoparticles varied with different amounts of silver ions added to the micelle solution. When I2 was used as the preoxidant, AgI nanoparticles were formed and encapsulated inside the cylinders through the precipitation reaction between iodide anions and silver ions. The packing density of the resulting AgI nanoparticles was increased by an iterative addition method, which utilizes the reversible redox properties of PFS. The small encapsulated AgI nanoparticles were also shown to serve as seeds for the formation of larger Ag nanoparticles when a silver salt was subsequently added.     

Structure of polydispersed colloids characterised by light scattering and electron microscopy

The dynamics of growth and aggregation of colloidal silver iodide particles was followed by the static light scattering method. The particles were treated as spheres and they were stable in size in the defined time interval. This approach enabled the use of the Zimm plots in order to determine the radii of gyration and the radii of spherical particles. Stable AgI colloids, either positively or negatively charged, showed the usual Zimm diagrams, while the diagrams were untypical when the stability of the colloids decreased. The untypical Zimm diagrams showed 'curves' with envelopes and 'curves' with minima in the unstable domain and in the domain where the most rapid nucleation occurs, respectively. Satisfactory agreement of particle sizes within the limits of accuracy, determined using static--and dynamic light scattering data and of the values obtained from the electron microscopic images was shown. Fitting the theoretical and experimental data, P(theta) functions showed that the particle shapes approach the theoretical model for spheres and thin discs. The colloid stability of polydispersed aggregates was also explained using the second virial coefficient, its negative sign implying interaction of particles in the solution, its positive value indicating formation of new particles from the supernatant solution. In addition, the colloid stability can be characterised by the mass fractal dimension. For positive stable colloids, Dm = 2.70 +/- 0.26, it can be related to the reaction controlled processes, whereas for negative stable colloids, Dm = 1.97 +/- 0.19, it was attributed to the diffusion controlled processes.     

Theoretical consideration on preparing silver particle films by adsorbing nanoparticles from bulk colloids to an air-water interface

In our previous paper, a method for preparing enormous surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) active substrates through the aggregation of silver particles trapped at an air-water interface was reported. Here, further efforts were devoted to investigate the origin of assembling silver particle films by adsorbing nanoparticles from bulk colloids to the air-water interface. It was revealed that it is thermodynamically favorable for a colloidal particle in bulk colloids to adsorb to the air-water interface; however, a finite sorption barrier between it and the nearby particles usually restrains the adsorption process. When an electrolyte such as KCl, which is commonly used as an activating agent for additional SERS enhancement, was added into silver colloids, it largely reduced the sorption barrier. Thus, silver nanoparticles can break through the sorption barrier, pop up, and be trapped at the air-water interface. The trapped silver particles are more inclined to aggregate at the interface than those in bulk colloids due to the increase of van der Waals forces and the reduction of electrostatic forces. The morphology of the as-prepared silver particle films was characterized by scanning electron microscope, and their SERS activity was tested using NaSCN as a probe molecule. The surface enhancement of the silver particle films is about 1-2 orders of magnitude higher compared with that of silver colloids, because most of the silver particles in the films are in the aggregation form that provides enormous SERS enhancement. Furthermore, the stability of such type of films is much better that of colloid solutions.     

Preparation of silver nanoparticles with controlled particle size

Silver colloids show different colors due to light absorption and scattering in the visible region based on plasmon resonance. The resonance wavelength depends on particle size and shape. Here we report chemical reduction methods for preparation of silver nanoparticles exhibiting multicolor in aqueous solutions. Depending on chemical conditions the obtained nanoparticles are different regarding size and morphology.In order to investigate the relationship between size, stability and color of silver colloids we obtained silver nanoparticles in aqueous solutions using different reducing agents. The effect of polyvinyl pyrrolidone (PVP) and polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) on stabilization of obtained silver colloids was investigated. We have also studied the effect of silver precursor and its concentration on the formation of stable silver colloids.UV-VIS spectrum for silver colloids contains a strong plasmon band near 410 nm, which confirms silver ions reduction to Ag° in the aqueous phase. The formation of metal silver was also confirmed by powder X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis. The diameter size of silver nanoparticles was in the range from 5 nm to 100 nm