Investigation of Blue-Shifted Plasmon Resonance: An Optical Properties Study of Silver Nanoparticles

Uniform and stable polymer protected spherical silver nanoparticles were synthesized using Polyvinyl alcohol and glycerol as capping agent. Further, a brief mechanism relating the formation of spheres with the orientation of polymer and nucleation period has been discussed. A simple 'bottom up' preparation of silver nanoparticles as PVA and Glycerol stabilized colloids with both high loads and tunable optical properties were developed where the nanostructure's morphology was controlled and optimized. In both cases the synthesis was rapid and repeatable producing nanoparticles of distinct size and morphology. Best results were obtained when the high load colloids were prepared at higher concentrations. The resulting colloids displayed good stability over time when stored appropriately. The dependence of longitudinal plasmon peak on concentration of NaBH₄ is clearly seen in both the synthesis techniques. Formation of spherical silver nanoparticles were characterized using UV-vis, transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and particle size analyzer and IR spectroscopy.