High Energy Pulsed Laser Beam to Produce a Thin Layer of Crystalline Silver without Heating the Deposition Substrate and Its Catalytic Effects

Abstract

Crystalline silver thin layers were obtained using high-energy pulsed laser ablation without the heating of the deposition substrate. The fluid Plateau–Rayleigh (PRI), Rayleigh–Taylor (RTI), and Richtmyer–Meshkov (RMI) instabilities, as well as the crown splash induced during the pulsed laser deposition (PLD) in the high energy regime, resulting in ring and pearl-shaped structures, offer the benefit of an increased sorption surface. These morphological structures obtained for the silver thin layers make them of interest for catalytic applications. This study addresses both fundamental and applied issues on the morphological structures obtained for the silver thin layers and their catalytic function in organic processes. In this sense, the catalytic action of the thin silver layer was highlighted by modifications of the Reactive Blue 21 dye (C.I.) in an aqueous solution with sodium bicarbonate. Specific investigations and analyses were carried out using electron microscopy and elemental analysis (SEM-EDX), atomic force microscopy (AFM) and profilometry, mass spectrometry, ablation plasma diagnosis, diffractograms (XRD), as well as IR spectroscopy (FTIR). In addition to the experimental investigation and analyses, the simulation of the ionization energy threshold was conducted in COMSOL for complementary evaluation on the involved processes and phenomena.