Scrutiny of Surface Plasmon Resonance Bands of Colloidal Cu and Cu-Ag Nanoparticles in Different Reaction Media for Stability Evaluation

Abstract

The copper nanoparticles (CuNPs) were developed in two different reaction media (distilled water (DW) and ethylene glycol (EG)) by chemical reduction method using two different stabilizers (polyethylene glycol (PEG) and polyvinyl pyrrolidone (PVP)). We carried out a careful examination of the time evolution of surface plasmon resonance (SPR) bands (specifically, peak positions and intensities) of colloidal CuNPs so as to evaluate their stability. In addition, the changing pattern of SPR peak positions and intensities during the stability time period was also investigated. Effects of stabilizer materials, stabilizer concentration, Ag capping and reaction medium on the stability of CuNPs colloids have been highlighted. The maximum stability of CuNPs is 4 hours with stabilizer PEG and is 4 days with PVP in DW. They, with PVP, extend up to 10 days in the different reaction medium (EG). The stability time of CuNPs in EG is further lengthened to 20 days in the presence of Ag capping (Cucore AgshellNPs). Thus a proper selection of the stabilizing/capping agent and the reaction medium is critical in determining the stability of CuNPs colloids. The benefits of stabilization of CuNPs for real world applications are immense and this study would help in examinning the stability of other novel plasmonic metal nanostructures.