One-pot synthesis of mesostructured Ag/silica composite films

Mesoporous silica films embedded with Ag nanoparticles were directly synthesized by a solgel dip-coating process, combining alkyl (ethylene oxide) surfactant as temple and tetraethoxysilane as inorganic precursor. The addition of Ag+ ion to the reaction sol was prior to the formation of films, followed by the heat treatment at 150 °C led to the creation of Ag nanoparticies. The formation of Ag nanoparticles and the change of its surface plasma resonance absorption were characterized by Uv-vis. The small angle XRD test indicated that the films had an ordered hexagonal mesoporous structure, of which the unit cell parameter was about 4.26 nm. The TEM images and EDS spectra of the samples have directly verified the presence of mono-dispersed Ag nanoparticles within the films, due to the confine effects of mesopores.