Applied Surface Science 336 (2015) 108–111 Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Applied Surface Science journal h om epa ge: www.elsevier.com/locate/apsusc Production of silver nanoparticles by laser ablation in open air M. Boutinguiza a,∗ , R. Comesa ˜ na b , F. Lusqui ˜ nos a , A. Riveiro a , J. del Val a , J. Pou a a Applied Physics Department, University of Vigo EEI, Lagoas-Marcosende, 9. Vigo, 36310, SPAIN b Materials Engineering, Applied Mechanics and Construction Dpt., University of Vigo, EEI, Lagoas-Marcosende, Vigo, 36310, SPAIN a r t i c l e i n f o Article history: Received 3 July 2014 Received in revised form 2 September 2014 Accepted 29 September 2014 Available online 7 October 2014 Keywords: Silver nanoparticles Laser ablation Pulsed laser Open air a b s t r a c t Silver nanoparticles have attracted much attention as a subject of investigation due to their well-known properties, such as good conductivity, antibacterial and catalytic effects, etc. They are used in many different areas, such as medicine, industrial applications, scientific investigation, etc. There are different techniques for producing Ag nanoparticles, chemical, electrochemical, sonochemical, etc. These methods often lead to impurities together with nanoparticles or colloidal solutions. In this work, laser ablation of solids in open air conditions (LASOA) is used to produce silver nanoparticles and collect them on glass substrates. Production and deposition of silver nanoparticles are integrated in the same step to reduce the process. The obtained particles are analysed and the nanoparticles formation mechanism is discussed. The obtained nanoparticles were characterized by means of transmission electron microscopy (TEM), high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM) and UV/VIS absorption spectroscopy. The obtained nanoparticles consisted of Ag nanoparticles showing rounded shape with diameters ranging from few to 50 nm © 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. 1. Introduction Much effort has been made in nanosize materials production due to their unique properties, differing significantly from those in bulk material, which is contributing to develop new nanostructed materials and new applications. Silver nanoparticles have attracted much attention as a subject of investigation due to their well- known properties, such as high electrical and thermal conductivity [1], antibacterial and antifungal effects [2–4], high catalytic activity [5], etc. They are used in many different areas like medicine [6,7], photovoltaic energy [8], industrial applications [9], etc. There are different techniques for producing Ag nanoparticles using chem- ical [10,11], physical [12,13] and biological routes [14,15]. Each method presents its own disadvantages and restrictions, being the most used chemical. To prevent the presence of contamination and impurities in obtained products, laser ablation of solids in liq- uid phase (LASL) has been considered as an alternative method to chemical reduction, especially when biological applications are taken into account. Its simplicity together with the advantage of producing nanoparticles with small size, narrow distribution and weak agglomeration make it suitable for metal nanoparti- cle synthesis. This method lacks high productivity and for certain ∗ Corresponding author. Tel.: +34 986812216. E-mail address: mohamed@uvigo.es (M. Boutinguiza). applications additional treatments are needed to implement the obtained colloidal solutions. A variety of strategies have been pro- posed to increase the amount of nanoparticles obtained by LASL, such as the use of a continuously fed wire target to increase the production yield [16]. Besides increasing the nanoparticle produc- tivity, it would be desirable to reduce the processes involved in synthesis and applications of Ag nanoparticles by avoiding the use of additional equipment like vacuum chambers. In previous works, we have this method to obtain and characterize metal and non- metal nanoparticles [16,17]. Herein we present a variation of the mentioned method, laser ablation of solids in open air (LASOA) to obtain Ag nanoparticles under ambient conditions, which could be a good choice for up-scaling process to produce high amount of particles without stopping or irradiating the already synthesized ones. 2. Experimental Plates of Ag with 99.99% of purity as well as glasses used as substrates were sonicated in acetone and cleaned with ethanol and pure water to be processed by laser in open air atmosphere. The targets were attached to a holder and at 0.5–1.5 cm from a glass substrate. The laser beam was oriented to form an angle of about 60 ◦ with respect to the target plane and focused on the upper surface of the Ag plate in order to collect the ejected par- ticles on glass substrates. The laser source used consisted of ns http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.apsusc.2014.09.193 0169-4332/© 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.