Optical properties of palladium nanoparticles under exposure of hydrogen and inert gas prepared by dewetting synthesis of thin-sputtered layers

Thin layers of palladium with a thickness of 5 nm were sputtered on fused silica substrates. Subsequently, the coated glasses were annealed at a temperature of 900 °C for 1 h. This resulted in the formation of small and well-separated palladium nanoparticles with diameters in the range from 20 to 200 nm on the glass surface. The existence of a palladium oxide layer can be detected using optical absorption spectroscopy. Purging with hydrogen leads to an irreversible change in the optical spectra due to the reduction of PdO to metallic palladium. Changing the gas atmosphere from hydrogen to argon leads to significant reversible changes in the optical properties of the particle layer. Based on Mie theory and the respective dielectric functions, the spectra were calculated using the real particle size distribution, weighted dispersions relation to adapt the geometrical conditions and complex dielectric functions of palladium and palladium hydride. A good agreement with measured spectra was found and the dependency of the surrounding media can be explained.