Issue 15, 2019, Issue in Progress

Towards sensor applications of a polymer/Ag nanoparticle nanocomposite film

Abstract

We have demonstrated the capability of a nanocomposite film made of a 2D array of Ag nanoparticles embedded into a poly(glycidyl methacrylate), PGMA, matrix to monitor the presence of organic vapors in the atmosphere. Specifically, changes in the extinction spectra of the submicron nanocomposite film are used to sense the vapors. The transformations of the spectra are fully reversible and reproducible upon multiple exposures. We associate this reversibility and reproducibility with the construction of the nanocomposite film where the cross-linked PGMA network is able to spatially restore its structure upon deswelling. The structure of the extinction spectrum of the film is governed by a collective surface plasmon mode excited in the Ag NPs array. It was found that spectral bands associated with normal and tangential components of the plasmon mode change their width and position when the nanocomposite is exposed to organic vapors. This is due to increasing the spacing between neighboring NPs and a decrease of the refractive index of the polymer caused by swelling of the PGMA matrix. Therefore, the level of spectral transformation is directly related to the level of polymer–solvent thermodynamic affinity where the higher affinity corresponds to the higher level of the swelling. Therefore, we expect that the nanocomposite films (when designed for a particular solvent) can be effectively used as a sensing element in a low-cost volatile organic compounds (VOC) sensor device operating in visual light.

Graphical abstract: Towards sensor applications of a polymer/Ag nanoparticle nanocomposite film

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
20 Jan 2019
Accepted
07 Mar 2019
First published
13 Mar 2019
This article is Open Access
Creative Commons BY-NC license

RSC Adv., 2019,9, 8498-8506

Towards sensor applications of a polymer/Ag nanoparticle nanocomposite film

O. A. Yeshchenko, S. Z. Malynych, S. O. Polomarev, Yu. Galabura, G. Chumanov and I. Luzinov, RSC Adv., 2019, 9, 8498 DOI: 10.1039/C9RA00498J

This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0 Unported Licence. You can use material from this article in other publications, without requesting further permission from the RSC, provided that the correct acknowledgement is given and it is not used for commercial purposes.

To request permission to reproduce material from this article in a commercial publication, please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

If you are an author contributing to an RSC publication, you do not need to request permission provided correct acknowledgement is given.

If you are the author of this article, you do not need to request permission to reproduce figures and diagrams provided correct acknowledgement is given. If you want to reproduce the whole article in a third-party commercial publication (excluding your thesis/dissertation for which permission is not required) please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

Read more about how to correctly acknowledge RSC content.

Social activity

Spotlight

Advertisements