The thermolysis behavior of Ag/PAMAMs nanocomposites

Ag/polyamidoamine (PAMAM) nanocomposites were produced by photoreduction of relevant metallic salts in different generations of PAMAM (PAMAMs) methanol solutions under room temperature and ambient pressure. The obtained Ag nanoparticles were quite uniform in size with a diameter of about 15 nm. Thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) results showed that the amount of Ag nanoparticles could well affect the thermal stability of PAMAMs. As the mass ratio of Ag nanoparticles to PAMAMs increased, the weight-losing ratios decreased. Meanwhile, TGA curves also indicated that the thermal behavior of Ag/PAMAMs was greatly different in the two stages of low (130~280 °C) and high temperature (280~450 °C) range; the loading of Ag nanoparticles mainly influences the thermal stability of PAMAMs in high temperature region (280~450 °C). Moreover, the multistage decomposition profile of derivative thermal gravimetry curves suggested that there might contain some intermediate Ag/PAMAMs type of composites.