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Structure transition, formation, and optical absorption property study of Ag/SiO2 nanofilm by sol-gel method

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Abstract

Ag nanoparticles dispersed SiO2 composite films were successfully prepared by a sol-gel method. The structural transition, formation, and optical property along with relevant band gap of Ag/SiO2 thin films during the annealing process were studied by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, thermogravimetry-differential thermal analysis, x-ray diffraction, and ultraviolet-visible spectroscopy, while the micro structure of thin films was revealed by transmission electron microscopy. The results indicate that the Ag spherical particles with the diameter of 10-20 nm were formed by breaking Si-O-Ag bonds above 200 °C and dispersed in the SiO2 matrix. The optical absorption property of Ag/SiO2 nanofilm in the visible range is enhanced, and the band gap (Eg) is widened with raising annealing temperatures, which is promising for the potential applications in nonlinear optical and related fields.

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Acknowledgments

The authors thank Mr. Xi-Zhen Ding (graduate student of USTB) for a part of his experiments. This work was supported by Major State Basic Research Development (Grant No. 2007CB613301), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 50972012), and Specialized Research Fund for the Doctoral Program of Higher Education (Grant No. 20090006110010).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Materials Science and Engineering, University of Science and Technology Beijing, Beijing, 100083, China

    Yan Li, Bo-Ping Zhang & Jin-Xian Zhao

  2. College of Materials Science and Engineering, Guangxi University, Nanning, 530004, China

    Cui-Hua Zhao

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  1. Yan Li
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  2. Bo-Ping Zhang
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  3. Cui-Hua Zhao
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  4. Jin-Xian Zhao
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Correspondence to Bo-Ping Zhang.

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Li, Y., Zhang, BP., Zhao, CH. et al. Structure transition, formation, and optical absorption property study of Ag/SiO2 nanofilm by sol-gel method. Journal of Materials Research 27, 3141–3146 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1557/jmr.2012.388

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