Controlling Silver Nanoparticle Size and Morphology with Photostimulated Synthesis.pdfVIP

Controlling Silver Nanoparticle Size and Morphology with Photostimulated Synthesis 1,2,3 2 2 3 2,4 3,4 4,5 A. K. Popov , J. Brummer , R. S. Tanke , G. Taft , A. Wruck , M. Loth , R. Langlois and R. Schmitz5 University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point, Stevens Point, Wisconsin 54481 1Corresponding author, 2Department of Chemistry, 3Department of Physics Astronomy, 4Undergraduate students, 5Department of Biology Abstract. Photo-induced synthesis and control over the size and shape of colloidal silver nanoparticles is investigated in contrast to photo-stimulated aggregation of small nanoparticles into large fractal-type structures. The feasibility of light-driven nanoengineering which enables manipulation of the sizes and shapes of the isolated nanoparticles is studied by varying the amount and type of the stabilizing agent and the type of optical irradiation. 1. Introduction. One of the remarkable properties of nanoparticles is their high surface-to-volume ratio which leads to striking optical properties not available in bulk materials. In particular, metal nanoparticles acquire optical resonance, which depends not only on the free electron density, but also on the size and shape of the particles. This is in strong contrast to bulk metals where the optical properties are primarily determined by the plasma frequency, i.e., by the number density of free electrons. Such geometrical resonance attributed to metal nanoparticles is called “plasmonic” resonance. Thus, in optical processes like absorption, nanoparticles act like artificial atoms. Anisotropic nanopart