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In Situ Growth of Low-Dimensional Silver Nanoclusters with Their Tunable Plasmonic and Thermodynamic Behavior
journal contribution
posted on 2017-09-14, 08:15 authored by Gajendra
Kumar Inwati, Yashvant Rao, Man SinghOptical
properties of noble metal nanostructures associated with
localized surface plasmon resonance (SPR) are technically important
for optical switches and plasmonic devices. In this work, silver nanoclusters
are embedded inside the soda-lime glass matrix, followed by a thermal
annealing process in an open air atmosphere for 1 h. The effects of
thermal annealing on the plasmonic behavior of Ag nanoclusters embedded
in the glass matrix are studied with UV–vis spectroscopy and
photoluminescence. In the SPR spectra, a 14 nm blue shift is observed
in the visible range under the influence of thermal annealing at a
higher temperature. The thermal effects on Ag particle size and SPR
have been illustrated for plasmonic properties. The structural and
elemental investigation of as-grown Ag nanoclusters is confirmed by
X-ray diffraction, high-resolution transmission electron microscope,
and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. The structural, plasmonic, and
thermodynamic properties associated with the growth mechanism of Ag
nanoclusters have been explained under the thermal process. Enthalpy
(ΔH), entropy (ΔS),
and Gibbs energy (ΔG) for Ag nanoclusters growth
and nucleation are significantly calculated and interpreted at different
temperatures. An empirical relation among the ΔH, ΔS, and ΔG is developed
vis-a-vis activation energy (97.70 J/mol), which is calculated by
the Arrhenius linear equation.