Surface plasmon response of silver nanoparticles doped silica synthesised via sol-gel route.

Highlights • Synthesis of plasmonic nanoparticles were done in a cost effective method. • Identified a novel tool to fine tune plasmonic absorption band. • Developed a SiO 2 matrix with homogeniously distributed Ag nano particles. Abstract The plasmonic responses of silver nanoparticles are having attention due to their potential applications in plasmonic solar cell. We successfully synthesised silver nanoparticles in silica matrices by means of hydrolytic sol–gel method. The sol-gel derived samples were effectively annealed at 400 °C, 600 °C, 800 °C and studied the plasmonic response of silver nanoparticles. The temperature and doping concentration dependence of the nanoparticles and their optical and structural response were well studied. The Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) confirmed the SiO 2 formation. The XRD data confirmed the crystalline nature of Ag nanoparticles and the size is calculated to be 20 nm. The Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM) measurement confirmed the crystalline planes of silver nanoparticles and the particle size is found to be around 20 nm. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]