Influence of Poly(vinylpyrrolidone) concentration on properties of silver nanoparticles manufactured by modified thermal treatment method

PLoS One. 2017 Oct 18;12(10):e0186094. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0186094. eCollection 2017.

Abstract

Very narrow and pure silver nanoparticles were synthesized by modified thermal treatment method via oxygen and nitrogen flow in succession. The structural and optical properties of the calcined silver nanoparticles at 600°C with diverse Poly(vinylpyrrolidone) concentrations varied from 2% to 4% were studied by means of different techniques. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy was used to monitor the production of pure Ag nanoparticles at a given Poly(vinylpyrrolidone) concentration. The X-ray powder diffraction spectra are evidence for the transformation of the amorphous sample at 30°C to the cubic crystalline nanostructures at the calcination temperatures for all Poly(vinylpyrrolidone) concentrations. The transmission electron microscopy images showed the creation of spherical silver nanoparticles with the average particle size decreased by increasing Poly(vinylpyrrolidone) concentrations from 4.61 nm at 2% to 2.49 nm at 4% Poly(vinylpyrrolidone). The optical properties were investigated by means of UV-vis absorption spectrophotometer, which showed an increase in the conduction band of Ag nanoparticles with increasing Poly(vinylpyrrolidone) concentrations from 2.83 eV at 2% Poly(vinylpyrrolidone) to 2.94 eV at 4% Poly(vinylpyrrolidone) due to decreasing particle size. This was due to less attraction between conduction electrons and metal ions for smaller particle size corresponding to fewer atoms that made up the metal nanoparticles.

MeSH terms

  • Metal Nanoparticles / chemistry*
  • Metal Nanoparticles / ultrastructure
  • Nanotechnology / methods*
  • Optical Phenomena
  • Particle Size
  • Povidone / pharmacology*
  • Powders
  • Silver / pharmacology*
  • Spectrophotometry, Ultraviolet
  • Spectroscopy, Fourier Transform Infrared
  • Temperature*
  • X-Ray Diffraction

Substances

  • Powders
  • Silver
  • Povidone

Grants and funding

This work was financially supported by the Research Management Center (RMC), Universiti Putra Malaysia. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.