Formation of metal-polymer composites by ion implantation

Abstract

Silver nanoparticles have been synthesized by ion implantation at 30 keV into polymethyl-methacrylate at doses from 3.1 × 10¹⁵ to 7.5 × 10¹⁶ ion cm⁻² and a beam current 4 μA cm⁻² at room temperature. Transmission electron microscopy was used to determine the structure of the silver-polymer systems obtained. It was observed that in the prepared samples, spherical metal particles with sizes smaller than 12 nm were fabricated. For characterization of the optical response of the composites, transmittance spectroscopy was employed. The formation of the silver nanoparticles leads to an increase of the optical absorption bends at the plasma wavelength in the visible range, where the spectral position of the transmittance minimum depends on the implantation conditions. It was observed that the intensity of the absorption is very weak in spite of the large quantity of silver particles existing in the polymer medium; the factors influencing the optical data are discussed.