Chapter 19 - Synthesis of metal nanoparticles using laser ablation technique

Abstract

Pulse laser ablation (PLA) technique has been demonstrated to be a simple, compatible, promising, versatile, relatively low-cost, pure, and green approach with the absence of toxic chemicals and reagents for fabrication of metal nanoparticles. Purity is an especially important attribute of metal nanoparticles (NPs) in biological and medical technologies. For such applications, it is crucial to prepare metal NPs with the desired shape and size distribution. This chapter discusses the advantages of the PLA technique as compared with other techniques for metal NPs, explains the various mechanisms involved in the generation of metal NPs, outlines the effects of laser parameters, such as wavelength, pulse duration, laser fluence, pulse repetition rate, and exposure time on distribution of size, morphology, and structure of the particles, as well as the composition of the medium in which the particles are embedded.