Exploration of Materials Formed with Ag Nanocrystals at the Liquid-Liquid Interface

Abstract

Chemical entities with structure on the nanometer scale have inspired great interest from fundamental and applied science points of view.In this work, the nanometer scale objects are bits of silver metal termed Ag nanoparticles, and these are employed as building blocks for a new material. The new material is a thin film, and we explore aspects of its formation and general properties. The film forms spontaneously at the liquid-liquid interface by contacting an organic solution containing Ag nanoparticles and an aqueous mixture of water and ethanol containing a ligand. Various aqueous phase ligands including mercapto acids, alkanethiols, and surfactants are used to extract the Ag nanoparticles to the interface. The film appears blue, and sometimes silvery. Structural properties of these films are revealed with Transmission Electron Microscopy, and these data show that the film is a multi-layered array of intact Ag nanoparticles. Methods to apply and further study this interesting film will be presented.