Pulse electrophoresis deposition of Ag@SiO2 core–shell nanoparticles on FTO substrate

Abstract

Ag@SiO2 core–shell nanoparticles (NPs) were synthesized by chemical reduction followed by the modified Stöber method at room temperature and deposited on fluorine doped tin oxide (FTO) substrate using the pulse electrophoresis deposition (PED) method. The surface plasmon (SP) band of Ag NPs was red-shifted after silica coating. The Ag@SiO2 core–shell NPs (50–65nm) was composed of 25–35nm Ag NPs core and SiO2 shell thickness was controlled from 12 to 30nm by controlling TEOS amount. PED was carried out in galvanostatic mode for uniform deposition of Ag@SiO2 core–shell NPs. The number of Ag@SiO2 core–shell NPs deposited on the substrate was increased with prolonged deposition time.