Localized surface plasmon behavior of Ag-Cu alloy nanoparticles stabilized by rice-starch and gelatin

Manish Kumar Singh,Premkumar Manda,A K Singh,R K Mandal

doi:10.1063/1.4933072

Abstract

The purpose of this communication was to understand localized surface plasmon behavior of a series of Ag-Cu alloy nanoparticles capped by rice-starch and gelatin. The structures of dried powders were investigated with the help of X-ray diffraction. The analysis revealed Ag-rich and Cu-rich phases with maximum solid solubility of Cu ∼9 atom per cent; 8 atom per cent and Ag ∼ 16 atom per cent; 14 atom per cent in rice-starch and gelatin capped samples respectively. Transmission electron microscope was used for knowing the particle size as well as to supplement FCC phase formations of Ag-rich and Cu-rich solid phases arrived at based on X-ray diffraction studies. The UV-Vis spectra of sols were examined for the formation and stability of alloy nanoparticles. The temporal evolution of LSPR curves gave us to assert that the sol is stable for more than two months. Small angle X-ray scattering in the sol state was extensively utilized to understand nature of suspensions in terms of fractals. Such a study is important for having a correlation between LSPR behaviors with those of nanoparticle dispersion in aqueous media. It is believed that this work will be a contribution to the emerging field of plasmonics that include applications in the area of photophysical processes and photochemical reactions.

Highlights

Plasmonic nanoparticles (NPs) have become an important area of activities that include its relevance to photophysical processes and photochemical transformations.[1]
The analysis revealed Ag-rich and Cu-rich by FCC (Cu)-rich phases with maximum solid solubility of Cu ∼9 atom per cent; 8 atom per cent and Ag ∼ 16 atom per cent; 14 atom per cent in rice-starch and gelatin capped samples respectively
Transmission electron microscope was used for knowing the particle size as well as to supplement FCC phase formations of Ag-rich and Cu-rich solid phases arrived at based on X-ray diffraction studies

Summary

Introduction

Plasmonic nanoparticles (NPs) have become an important area of activities that include its relevance to photophysical processes and photochemical transformations.[1]. This arises due to collective oscillations of valence electrons from the surface that is resonant with the frequency of an incident electromagnetic radiation They could be photons, electrons or electrons used in energy loss spectroscopy.[2] The interplay of structural and temperature effects on plasmonic excitation has been investigated using high resolution electron energy loss spectroscopy.[3] Various aspects of plasmonic research have been summarized in a recent review.[1] To evolve and understand the relation between structural features and plasmonic excitations, it is imperative to look for the metal NPs synthesized by various processing routes. They hold promise for applications in nano-electronics as interconnects, inkjet printings, catalysis, antimicrobial activities, plasmonics, and for die-attach.[1,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12,13,14,15,16,17,18,19] For the application of Ag-Cu alloy nanopowders in interconnects and plasmonics, structural tools like

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