Solvatochromism of a silver-epoxy nanocomposite dispersed in organic solvents

Abstract

Solvent-dependent colorimetric properties of coupled plasmonic silver nanoparticles have significant interest in sensing devices for biological and environmental applications. In this work, the solvatochromism of silver-epoxy nanocomposites was studied in aprotic solvents having different dielectric constants like acetone, N, N-dimethylformamide, and dimethylsulphoxide. Triangular silver nanoprisms with sharp corners, truncated triangular silver nanoprisms and stacks of elongated silver nanoparticles with strong coupling plasmonic may be obtained by simple dispersion of the nanocomposites in presence of these solvents, respectively. The color and hues parameters of the assemblies were originated by a solvent-induced coalescence mechanism involving seeds of silver nanoparticles in fresh and aged epoxy nanocomposites. Overall, the results showed that the dielectric constant of the solvent has an important impact on the optical properties, size distribution, morphology, and stability of the silver nanoparticles dispersed in epoxy resin.

Keywords

• Surface plasmon
• Silver Nps
• Epoxy resin
• Solvatochromism