Rapid in situ synthesis of polymer-metal nanocomposite films in several seconds using a CO2 laser

Abstract

We demonstrate the rapid in situ synthesis of polymer-metal nanocomposite films using a CO2 laser at 10.6 μm. The mechanism of our method is that the precursor of the metal nanoparticles, i.e., the metallic ions, is very rapidly reduced in the laser-heated polymer matrix without any reducing agent. Unlike other known laser-induced reduction methods using UV lasers, which produce radicals to promote reduction, the CO2 laser energy is mainly absorbed by the glass substrate, and the laser-heated substrate heats the polymer matrix through heat diffusion to promote reduction. The superiority of the use of CO2 lasers over nanosecond visible~UV lasers is also demonstrated in terms of the damage to the film. The developed method can be a new alternative to quickly synthesize a variety of polymer-metal nanocomposite films.

Polymeric Nanocomposites for Environmental and Industrial Applications

“…The third step is the simultaneous synthesis of both polymer and nanomaterial. The main advantage of the in situ synthesis of PNCs is that it enables achieving high uniform dispersion of nanofillers throughout the polymer matrix, which improves compatibility and enables high interaction at the interface [19,20]. Several types of PNCs with different characteristics may be fabricated using the in situ method.…”

Size-controlled in situ synthesis of metal–polymer nanocomposite films using a CO2 laser

“…Before showing the results of the films we first present the temporal variation of film temperature at the different laser powers. Since our CO2 laser is in the quasi-CW mode (i.e., pulse duration ~ pulse interval), we can conveniently use a thermocouple with a small head (~1 mm diameter) to measure the film temperature at the irradiation center as a function of time [20,22]. The results are presented in Fig.…”

“…Chemical reduction method is sometimes combined with a post-processing such as laser-irradiation [19] to alter the film property. Recently we have developed another alternative [20] for the in-situ synthesis of nanocomposite films. Our method utilizes a non-focused CO2 laser beam to irradiate a polymer film (polyvinyl alcohol, PVA or polyethylene glycol, PEG) which contains a precursor (AgNO3) of Ag nanoparticles.…”

Influence of polymer molecular weight on the properties of in situ synthesized silver–methylcellulose nanocomposite films with a CO2 laser

“…The thermal reduction is carried out in an electric furnace [12] at the temperature of 80-120°C. As a new alternative, we have recently demonstrated the rapid in situ synthesis of polymer-metal nanocomposite films using a CO 2 laser [13], where the role of the CO 2 laser is to heat the glass substrate through which the temperature of the polymer film also increases, and this promotes the reduction of metallic ions in the polymer matrix. In this sense, our method is somehow similar to thermal reduction.…”

“…The aim of this work is to investigate the influence of polymer molecular weight of MC on the properties of Ag-MC nanocomposite films synthesized by the irradiation of a CO 2 laser [13]. Through the synthesis and characterization of Ag-MC films using MC with different molecular weights (which are often labeled in terms of viscosity, cP), we find that the choice of MC with different molecular weights results in the different optical and morphological, and antibacterial properties of the synthesized films even if the same laser power and irradiation time are employed.…”