Plasmonic Ag nanoparticles via environment-benign atmospheric microplasma electrochemistry

Abstract

Atmospheric-pressure microplasma-assisted electrochemistry was used to synthesize Ag nanoparticles (NPs) for plasmonic applications. It is shown that the size and dispersion of the nanoparticles can be controlled by variation of the microplasma-assisted electrochemical process parameters such as electrolyte concentration and temperature. Moreover, Ag NP synthesis is also achieved in the absence of a stabilizer, with additional control over the dispersion and NP formation possible. As the microplasma directly reduces Ag ions in solution, the incorporation of toxic reducing agents into the electrolytic solution is unnecessary, making this an environmentally friendly fabrication technique with strong potential for the design and growth of plasmonic nanostructures for a variety of applications. These experiments therefore link microplasma-assisted electrochemical synthesis parameters with plasmonic characteristics.

A review of plasma–liquid interactions for nanomaterial synthesis

“…After the work of Koo et al [42], noble metals of Au [43,46,67,71,73,[135][136][137][138][139][140][141][142], Ag [46,69,[143][144][145][146][147], Pt [67], and Pd [148][149][150][151][152][153] NPs were intensively explored by using plasma over liquid configurations.…”

Atmospheric-pressure microplasma as anode for rapid and simple electrochemical deposition of copper and cuprous oxide nanostructures

“…The nucleation of Cu 2 O might occur rst on ITO glass according to eqn (3), and then some of them might be further reduced to Cu nanocrystals according to eqn (5). The nucleation of Cu 2 O might occur rst on ITO glass according to eqn (3), and then some of them might be further reduced to Cu nanocrystals according to eqn (5).…”

“…The nucleation of Cu 2 O might occur rst on ITO glass according to eqn (3), and then some of them might be further reduced to Cu nanocrystals according to eqn (5). It was found that on some of the Cu nanospheres surface, the elements composition was not 100% copper but with small amount of oxygen, which indicated that Cu 2 O could be formed on the surface of Cu nanoparticles and then be reduced to Cu according eqn (5). Once Cu nanocrystals were formed in either way, as they had much higher electrical conductivity than Cu 2 O, Cu(II) were preferentially attracted to the surface of Cu nanocrystals and got reduced.…”

Sustainable Life Cycles of Natural-Precursor-Derived Nanocarbons

“…In addition to being exploited for the quasideterministic assembly of zero-, one-, two-, and threedimensional (0D, 1D, 2D, and 3D, respectively) nanostructures onto a variety of substrates, including prepatterned substrates, 91 thermal and chemical effects of nonequilibrium plasmas enable synthesis and functionalization of nanoparticles in liquids, where plasmas accelerate electrochemical reactions. 92,93 Thermal plasmas are typically created at high pressures by dc or rf arcs, and by inductively coupled torches. High-pressure discharges are characterized by high plasma densities, up to 10 17 cm −3 in arcs, and very high rates of collisions.…”