Production and Study of Silver Nanoparticles by 532 nm Laser Pulse Ablation in NaCl Solution

Abstract

In this experimental research, silver nanoparticles are produced in NaCl solution by the laser ablation method. Our aim was to investigate the effect of the amount of NaCl in the ablation medium on the characteristics of nanoparticles. A 7 ns pulsed Neodymium YAG laser (Nd:YAG) at 5 J/cm2 fluence and 532 nm wavelength was employed to produce Ag nanoparticles in distilled water with four different concentrations of NaCl. The optical properties, size distribution, and agglomeration of nanoparticles were investigated by several diagnostics. The UV–Visible absorption spectra of the Ag nanoparticles exhibit absorptions in the UV region because of surface plasmon resonance. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) were used to study the size distribution and morphology of nanoparticles. Dynamic light scattering (DLS) was employed to measure the hydrodynamic size of nanoparticles in suspensions. With X-ray diffraction (XRD) pattern, the lattice structure of nanoparticles was studied. Fourier transform infrared (FTIR), photoluminescence (PL) spectra were obtained to observe the molecular structure and atomic energy levels of particles.