PHYS 491 |
| Hollow microtubes (diameter of 200-400 nm) of Al2O3 loaded with silver (Ag) nanoparticles (NPs) were successfully fabricated by atomic layer deposition (ALD) of Al2O3 on electrospun nanofiber templates. In our previous work (Qing et al. Nano Lett, 2007, 7, 719), long uniform hollow microtubes were synthesized by ALD of Al2O3 on electrospun neat polymer nanofibers. In this work, we have developed a novel one-step process to prepare metal NP-polymer nanofiber composites via electrospinning (ES) where the ES polymer acts as both the reductant and stabilizer for a metal salt and the resulting NPs, respectively. Using the fabricated nanofiber composites as templates for ALD of Al2O3, Ag NPs dispersed on 200-400 nm microtubes (after calcination) were obtained that have potential for sensor, catalysis and filtration applications. We demonstrate by UV/Vis spectroscopy that at electrospinnable molecular weights of polyvinyl alcohol (PVA), Ag ions are transformed to stable Ag NPs at 80-120 oC, without the addition of any reducing agent or stabilizer. The resulting Ag NPs are spherical, crystalline and are well-dispersed within the microtubes as observed from TEM and XRD analyses. |
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PHYS Poster Session - Nanostructured Materials and Nanophotonics
7:30 PM-10:00 PM, Wednesday, April 9, 2008 Morial Convention Center -- Hall A, Poster
Division of Physical Chemistry |