Silver Nanoparticles Formation by Nanosecond Pulsed Laser Irradiation in an Aqueous Solution of Silver Nitrate; Effect of Sodium bis (2-ethyl hexyl) Sulfosuccinate

Abstract

A photochemical reduction of a silver salt precursor using near-ultra-violet (UV) pulsed laser (355 nm) irradiation into aqueous surfactant sodium-bis (2–ethylhexyl) sulfosuccinate (AOT) solution has succeeded in synthesizing homogenous speculative silver nanoparticles (Ag NPs). Without using any additive, the irradiation from ns laser pulses to aqueous silver nitrate solution was observed to create nanocubes (NCs). The photoproduct was transformed into a nanosphere when irradiated with a particular AOT concentration. The photoproduct concentration of NCs to NSs was approximately ten times lower than the critical concentration of micellar (CMC) in AOT, which means that the growth of NSs was aided in a single layer of AOT adsorbed on silver surfaces. A UV / Visible Spectrophotometer and Transmission/Scanning electron microscopy (TEM/SEM) were used to characterize the photochemically synthesized sample thoroughly. The mean size of AgNSs, analyzed by TEM, was 8 nm. These parameters have shown the growth of AgNSs and discussed in the paper. These nanoparticles are potential candidates for catalyst, semiconductor, photovoltaic equipment, medical diagnostics applications than bulk materials.