A NOVEL SYNTHESIS METHOD FOR SILVER NANOPARTICLES USING MOLTEN ε-CAPROLACTAM AS SOLVENT AND REDUCING AGENT
A precipitation–reduction synthesis method for silver nanoparticles ( Ag NPs) was developed. Molten ε-caprolactam (CL) was used not only as solvent but also as reducing agent and stabilizer. At first, Ag 2 O NPs was prepared by precipitation reaction of silver nitrate ( AgNO 3) and sodium hydroxide ( NaOH ) using molten CL as solvent at 100°C. Then, Ag 2 O NPs was in situ reduced into Ag NPs by molten CL at 120°C. Techniques of X-ray diffraction (XRD) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) were used to monitor the synthesis process. With the increase of reduction time, monodispersed Ag 2 O NPs (ca. 3.7 nm) were integrated and larger Ag NPs (10–90 nm) were formed. Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) results showed that the surface of Ag NPs was capped with about 0.9 wt.% of CL molecules. Surface enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) effect of Ag NPs was investigated using Rhodamine 6G as a probe molecule.