Silica-supported silver nanoparticles: Tailoring of structure-property relationships

Silica-supported silver nanoparticles were obtained by rf sputtering from Ar plasmas under soft synthesis conditions, with particular attention to the combined influence of rf power and total pressure on the system composition, nanostructure, morphology, and optical properties. In order to attain a thorough insight into the nucleation and growth phenomena of Ag nanoparticles on the silica substrate, several in situ and ex situ characterization techniques were used. In particular, a laser reflection interferometry system was employed for a real-time monitoring of the deposition process, providing useful and complementary information with respect to the other ex situ techniques (x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and x-ray excited Auger electron spectroscopy, glancing incidence x-ray diffraction, atomic force microscopy, optical-absorption spectroscopy, and transmission electron microscopy). The above investigations evidenced the formation of silver-based nanosystems (average crystallite size ≤10 nm), whose features (metal content, Ag particle size and shape, structure and optical properties) could be carefully tailored by moderate and controlled variations of the synthesis parameters