Fluorescence from metallic silver and iron nanoparticles prepared by exploding wire technique

The observation of intense visible fluorescence from silver and iron nanoparticles in different solution phases and surface capping is reported here. Metallic silver and iron nanoparticles were obtained by exploding pure silver and iron wires in double distilled water. The adsorption of bovine serum albumin protein on the silver nanoparticles showed enhanced fluorescence. The presence of polyvinyl pyrrolidone polymer in the exploding medium resulted in a stabilized growth of iron nanoparticles with enhanced fluorescence intensity. The fluorescence was found to be surface/interface-dependant and is attributed to electronic transitions among characteristic interface energy bands. The magnetic nature of iron nanoparticles was confirmed from the hysteresis measurements.