Preparation of ITO/Ag nanohybrid particles by a reverse micellar layer-by-layer coating

Silver (Ag) nanoparticles were adsorbed preferentially on indium tin oxide (ITO) surface to form composite particles using a reverse micellar layer-by-layer deposition. The micellar process stabilized the Ag particles by an anionic sodium bis(2-ethylhexyl) sulfosuccinate (AOT) surfactant in isooctane solvent. The ITO particles surface was mediated by a cationic poly(allylamine hydrochloride) (PAH) polyelectrolyte. The heterogeneous deposition was rendered by both electrostatic attraction and hydrophilic/hydrophobic interaction, and was carried out in multiple coating cycles. The resulting hybrid particles were characterized by zeta-potential measurement, electron microscopy, X-ray diffractometry, and inductively coupled plasma analysis, respectively. Optical transmittance of the ITO/Ag composite films was found to decrease substantially with the Ag deposition over the visible wavelengths range, arising mainly from scattering induced by the Ag nanoparticles. (C) 2010 Elsevier Ltd and Techna Group S.r.l. All rights reserved.