Morphology of silver particulate films deposited on softened polymer blends of polystyrene and poly (4‐vinylpyridine)

Abstract

AbstractResults of the morphological studies of silver particulate films deposited at a rate of 0.4 nm/s on polymeric blends of polystyrene (PS) and poly (4‐vinylpyridine) (P4VP) held at a temperature 457 K by evaporation in a vacuum of 8 × 10−6 Torr are reported here. The morphology of silver particulate films was characterized by their size, size distribution, shape and interparticle separation. It has been observed that morphology depends on the composition of polymer matrix and the amount of silver deposited. The red shift in the plasmon resonance was observed with the increasing amount of P4VP in the blends in comparison to the pure PS. This indicates the modification in the silver particulate films deposited on the PS/P4VP blends. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) was used to study the change in morphology of the silver nanoparticles and was correlated with the optical properties of silver particulate films on PS/P4VP blends. The silver nanoparticles deposited on the thin layers of polymer blends exhibit smaller size with narrower dispersion and wider size distribution due to blending of P4VP with PS. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci, 2011