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Photochromic transitions in silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) embedded titanium dioxide (TiO2) films under green light illumination are marked by reduction in strength and blue shift in the position of the localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR) associated with AgNPs. These transitions, which happen in the sub-nanometer length scale, have been analysed using the variations observed in the effective dielectric properties of the Ag-TiO2 nanocomposite films in response to the size reduction of AgNPs and subsequent changes in the surrounding medium due to photo-oxidation. Bergman- Milton formulation based on spectral density approach is used to extract dielectric properties and information about the geometrical distribution of the effective medium. Combined with finite element method simulations, we isolate the effects due to the change in average size of the nanoparticles and those due to the change in the dielectric function of the surrounding medium. By analysing the dynamics of photochromic transitions in the effective medium, we conclude that the observed blue shift in LSPR is mainly because of the change in the dielectric function of surrounding medium, while a shape-preserving effective size reduction of the AgNPs causes decrease in the strength of LSPR. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Flexible and transparent substrate materials were fabricated by using bacterial cellulose (BC), silk fibroin protein (SF) and/or polyvinyl alcohol (PVA). The BC-SF and BC-SF-PVA films obtained were further modified by impregnation with silver nanocubes (AgNC). The influences of the silver nanocubes and white light illumination on the electric and viscoelastic properties of the films were investigated. Complex conductivity measurements showed that the films with PVA component are more sensitive to light exposure and there is an increase in conductance when the sample is illuminated. The films that contained silver nanocubes showed higher values of specific susceptance than their unmodified counterparts. DMA analyses revealed that the storage shear moduli of the films increase with addition of silver nanocubes. It was also found that the relaxation transition observed at elevated temperatures in the BC-SF-PVA-AgNC films is highly sensitive to the light exposure. Above the glass transition of PVA, both storage- and loss-shear moduli change dramatically if the sample is illuminated during the measurements with respect to the case when it was kept in the dark. Highlights • Flexible transparent bacterial cellulose-silk fibroin-PVA films were prepared. • Impregnation with nanostructured silver affects the physical properties of the film. • The effects of the illumination on the properties of the films were studied. • High-temperature mechanical transition of the films is sensitive to light exposure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We show that silver nanoparticles, which are deposited on a terahertz-receiving antenna, can be sintered by intense terahertz pulse irradiation. The conductance of the silver nanoparticles between the antenna electrodes is measured under the terahertz pulse irradiation. The dispersant materials surrounding the nanoparticles are peeled off, and conduction paths are created. We reveal that, during sintering, quantum point contacts are formed, leading to quantized conductance between the electrodes with the conductance quantum, which reflects the formation of atomically thin wires. The terahertz electric pulses are sufficiently intense to activate electromigration, i.e., transfer of kinetic energy from the electrons to the silver atoms. The silver atoms move and atomically thin wires form under the intense terahertz pulse irradiation. These findings may inspire nanoscale structural processing by terahertz pulse irradiation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Continuous silver shells were deposited on copper flakes using a two-stage precipitation process. A tightly packed layer of silver nanoparticles was first formed on the surface of the base metal by galvanic displacement. The size of the noble metal particles and their distribution on the substrate were controlled using complexing agents and dispersants. A continuous Ag deposit was subsequently grown by reducing slowly [Ag(NH 3 ) 2 ] + ions with glucose. The final shell thickness was controlled by varying the amount of metal deposited in the second step. The electrical properties of resulting silver coated copper flakes are comparable to those measured for silver flakes of similar size and aspect ratio. By preventing the oxidation of copper cores up to 400 °C, the hermetic noble metal shell dramatically extends the temperature range in which Ag/Cu flakes can successfully replace pure silver. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) have attracted great attention due to its optical, electrical and thermal properties. Cellulosic supports for these nanoparticles are of particular interest because of its availability, flexibility and biocompatibility. In this work, AgNPs were synthesized using two cellulosic materials, cellophane (CP) and filter paper (FP), as matrix support. Cellulosic materials were immersed in an aqueous solution of silver nitrate containing polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP) and then reduced with hydroxylamine. The obtained nanocomposites (CP-AgNPs and FP-AgNPs) were characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), X-ray diffraction (DRX) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). AgNPs of near 15 nm anchored onto cellulosic surfaces were detected. The thermal properties of these materials were investigated through thermogravimetry (TG). Their kinetic of thermal decomposition was studied by the Vyasovkin method of dynamic isoconvertion, which indicated a catalytic effect of AgNPs in the cellulose thermal decomposition reaction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A practical and feasible bottom-up chemistry approach is demonstrated to dramatically enhance thermoelectric properties of the Bi2Te3 matrix by means of exotically introducing silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) for constructing thermoelectric composites with the hierarchical two-phased heterostructure. By regulating the content of AgNPs and fine-tuning the architecture of nanostructured thermoelectric materials, more heat-carrying phonons covering the broad phonon mean free path distribution range can be scattered. The results show that the uniformly dispersed AgNPs not only effectively suppress the growth of Bi2Te3 grains, but also introduce nanoscale precipitates and form new interfaces with the Bi2Te3 matrix, resulting in a hierarchical two-phased heterostructure, which causes intense scattering of phonons with multiscale mean free paths, and therefore significantly reduce the lattice thermal conductivity. Meanwhile, the improved power factor is maintained due to low-energy electron filtering and excellent electrical transport property of Ag itself. Consequently, the maximum ZT is amazingly found to be enhanced by 304% arising from the hierarchical heterostructure when the AgNPs content reaches 2.0 vol%. This study offers an easily scalable and low-cost route to construct a wide range of multiscale hierarchically heterostructured bulk composites with significant enhancement of thermoelectric performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nanoparticle-based flexible field-effect transistors (FETs) containing carbon nanotubes (CNTs) and silicon nanowires (SiNWs) have attracted tremendous attention, since their interesting device performance can be utilized for integrated nanoscale electronics. However, use of CNTs and SiNWs on polymer substrates poses serious limitations in terms of their fabrication procedure, repeatability, and biodegradability. In this article, we report for the first time the fabrication and characteristics of solution-processed FETs on a paper substrate doped with easily prepared silver nanoparticles (AgNPs). To compare the FET performance, we fabricated two other FETs on paper containing ionic liquid (IL, 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium octyl sulfate) and reduced graphene oxide (rGO) as dopants. We observe that the AgNP-based dopant generated good FET characteristics in terms of linear transconductance variations and higher carrier concentration values, showing negligible changes after bending and aging. In comparison with the AgNP-FET, the rGO- and IL-based dopants yielded high carrier mobilities, but the rGO-based FET is more susceptible to aging and bending. The excellent linearity of the I- V curve found for the AgNP-FET ensures its applicability for devices requiring linear transfer characteristics such as linear amplifiers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) have been synthesized using maltose as reducing agent and microwave heating as reaction initiator. The nanoparticles are studied for their optical, structural, thermal, zeta potential and electrical properties. The synthesis protocol used is fast and resulted in the formation of multi-shaped AgNPs as indicated by their optical response and TEM. The crystallite size of nanoparticles and strain of the sample was found to be around 39 nm, and 2.3 × 10, respectively, as calculated from XRD data. Zeta potential and electrical response both showed almost threefold increase for multi-shaped as compared to isotropic nanoparticles. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, we achieved an enhancement of the transmission surface plasmon resonance (T-SPR) intensity by depositing silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) onto a gold grating substrate. The T-SPR spectrum of the gold grating substrate with AgNPs showed a strong and narrow SPR peak located between 650 and 800 nm; the maximum SPR excitation was observed at a 35° angle of incidence. We controlled the distance between the gold grating surface and the AgNPs by using layer-by-layer (LbL) ultrathin films of poly(diallydimethylammonium chloride) (PDADMAC) and poly(sodium 4-styrenesulfonate) (PSS) to study the distance dependence of the coupling effect between the AgNPs and the gold grating substrate. The distance-dependent T-SPR response of peak position and intensity showed distinctive changes when the intermediate layer was 10 bilayers (∼17 nm) thick. The strongest coupling surface plasmon excitation between the AgNPs and the gold grating substrate was obtained at this layer spacing. Furthermore, we explored the potential of the developed system as a switchable pH sensor. The T-SPR spectrum sensitively changed as the pH switched from acidic (pH 2) to alkaline (pH 12) conditions by the swelling/shrinking of the poly(allylamine hydrochloride) (PAH)/PSS LbL film, respectively, which was deposited between the AgNPs and the gold grating. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Highlights: [•] Reliable green synthesis of silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) by cashew nutshells. [•] Green synthesis of AgNPs by cashew nutshells. [•] Higher temperatures speed up the synthesis of AgNPs by cashew nutshells. [•] Size-controlled synthesis of AgNPs by cashew nutshells. [•] Antifungal activity of AgNPs greenly synthesized by cashew nutshells. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The silver nanoparticles doped poly-glycine composite membrane was prepared by cyclic voltammetry on the surface of the glassy carbon electrode (GCE). The morphology and electrochemical properties were characterized by scanning electron microscopy and cyclic voltammetry, respectively, and in detail, the electrochemical behaviors of the norepinephrine (NE) on this membrane were studied. The results showed that the membrane had good catalytic properties for the oxidative-reductive reaction of NE. NE had a couple of sensitive oxidative-reductive current peaks. The reductive peak currents were linearly with its concentration in the range of 1.90 × 10 to 7.00 × 10 and 7.00 × 10 to 1.00 × 10 mol l, and the linear regressive equations were i (A) = 3.73 × 10 + 0.70 C (mol l), i (A) = 9.83 × 10 + 0.12 C (mol l), respectively, with the relate coefficient ( r) of 0.9926 and 0.9944. The detection limit was 1.2 × 10 mol l (S/N = 3), which could be used to determine the content of NE and at the same time, eliminate the interference of the ascorbic acid (AA). The proposed method had high sensitivity, good selectivity and stability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The domain kinetics during cyclic switching using electrodes of stable suspension of Ag nanoparticles and tap water was studied in single crystals of the relaxor ferroelectric strontium-barium niobate Sr0.61Ba0.39Nb2O6. Mathematical treatment of the set of instantaneous domain images and analysis of the switching current data by Kolmogorov-Avrami formula have been applied for characterization of the polarization reversal process. The change of the time constants during cyclic switching in the single domain area and the area with initial nanodomain structure has been attributed to relaxation of the bias field. The noticeable switching deceleration for suspension electrode was attributed to series resistance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]