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Structural and optical properties of macroporous Ag@TiO2 thin films prepared by a facile one-step sol–gel method

  • Original Paper: Nano- and macroporous materials (aerogels, xerogels, cryogels, etc.)
  • Published:
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Abstract

A principle of obtaining macroporous Ag@TiO2 thin films by a template-free method in the frame work of sol–gel is developed. The macroporous structure is constructed by photo polymerization induced phase separation (PIPS) method, and the reduction of Ag+ to Ag0 is induced by ultraviolet irradiation at the same time. The achieved macroporous Ag@TiO2 films are well interconnected and crack free with an average pore size in the range 350–440 nm. Increasing Ag concentration results in the enhancement of extinction coefficient and reduction of refractive index, which are found to be consistent with absorbance and transmittance observations. In addition, Ag concentration causes red shift in absorbance which in turn decreases the band gap energy. These results may add important insight into developing high-performance materials for visible light activities.

Highlights

  • A facile one-step sol–gel method is used to prepared macroporous Ag modified TiO2 thin films.

  • Increasing Ag concentration results in the enhancement of extinction coefficient and reduction of refractive index.

  • Enhancement of Ag concentration produced red shift in absorbance which in turn decreases the band gap energy.

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Acknowledgements

The work was financially supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Nos. 51672242 and U1809217) and the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. State Key Laboratory of Silicon Materials and School of Materials Science and Engineering, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, 310027, China

    Shahid Khan, Mahmood ul Haq, Yecheng Ma, Mohammad Nisar, Youduo Li, Gaorong Han & Yong Liu

  2. Department of Physics, Abdul Wali Khan University, Mardan, 23200, Pakistan

    Rashid Khan

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  1. Shahid Khan
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Correspondence to Yong Liu.

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Khan, S., ul Haq, M., Ma, Y. et al. Structural and optical properties of macroporous Ag@TiO2 thin films prepared by a facile one-step sol–gel method. J Sol-Gel Sci Technol 93, 273–280 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10971-019-05199-6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10971-019-05199-6

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