Ag nanoparticles deposited onto silica, titania, and zirconia mesoporous films synthesized by sol–gel template method

A variety of Ag nanoparticles/oxide mesoporous films with templated silica, titania, and zirconia was synthesized by sol–gel method at glass, aluminum, and silicon substrates using metal alkoxides (tetraethoxysilane, titanium tetraisopropoxide, and zirconium tetrapropoxide) and AgNO3 as precursors of oxide films and Ag nanoparticles, respectively, and Pluronic P123 as a template agent. Oxide films alone and Ag/oxide composites were characterized using hexane adsorption, X-ray diffraction (XRD), Raman and ultraviolet (UV)/vis spectroscopies, scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) methods. The distribution of Ag nanoparticles within the films, their sizes, intensity, and position of surface plasmon resonance (SPR) absorbance band at λ = 400 nm, as well as the textural and structural characteristics of whole films depend on treatment temperature, types of substrates and oxide matrices, oxide crystallization, and Ag content. Ag nanoparticles form preferably on the outer surface of the films under lower sintering temperatures if the amount of loaded silver is low. Oxide crystallization (e.g., TiO2) promotes silver embedding into the outer film layer. At higher silver content (≥10 at.%) and higher calcination temperature (873 K), silver nanoparticles could be entrapped more uniformly along the film profile because of more intensive evaporation of silver droplets from the outer surface of the films on heating.