Sonochemical deposition of silver nanoparticles on silica spheres

Silver nanoparticles with an average size of similar to5 nm were deposited on the surface of preformed silica submicrospheres with the aid of power ultrasound. Ultrasound irradiation of a slurry of silica submicrospheres, silver nitrate, and ammonia in an aqueous medium for 90 min under an atmosphere of argon to hydrogen (95:5) yielded a silver-silica nanocomposite. By controlling the atmospheric and reaction conditions, we could achieve the deposition of metallic silver on the surface of the silica spheres. The resulting silver-deposited silica submicrosphere samples were characterized with X-ray diffraction, transmission electron microscopy, differential scanning calorimetry, energy-dispersive X-ray analysis, high-resolution transmission electron microscopy, high-resolution scanning electron microscopy, photoacoustic spectroscopy, and Fourier transform infrared, UV-visible, and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy.