Synthesis of metal nanoparticles using one atmosphere pressure glow plasma

Abstract

In this paper we propose a method for the synthesis of silver and metal nanoparticles in general. It is based on the reduction of metallic salts dissolved in water by means of non-energetic ions delivered from atmospheric pressure glow discharge plasma. A high-voltage generator with the ability to provide AC and DC voltage components separately is built for this purpose. Using the dielectric barrier discharge plasma reactor it is possible to get uniform rain of ions with tunable current density to penetrate into the salt solution. A porous dielectric plate is employed in the dielectric barrier discharge configuration. The method is tested for synthesis of silver nanoparticles. Obtained nanoparticles were analyzed on SEM and they exhibit spherical shape and sizes in the range of 25 nm to 100 nm. © 2012 IEEE.