Synthesis and Optical Properties of Silica-Silver Nanocomposite

Silica (SiO2) is a basic raw material that is widely used in optical, ceramics and other industries. Therefore, there is important need to study and improve its optical properties. In this study, silica was extracted and precipitated from maize cob and sodium silicate respectively using simple chemical methods. Silica-silver nanocomposite was produced by hybridization of silica with silver nanoparticles synthesized from plant extract. The source of silica that has been chosen for hybridization is sodium silicate which is effective compared to maize cob. The samples were characterized by UV-Visible, TEM and XRD analyses. UV-Visible results confirmed the presence of silica at 290nm and silver at 425nm. TEM image shows the dispersion of silver within the silica matrixes which gives silica capped silver morphology which is also evidence of hybridization. XRD also confirmed the presence and mixture of silica and silver at 2Ɵ° values between 18.5°-34.5° and 39.5°-65° respectively. The increase in absorbance value of silica before and after hybridization (0.5 to 1.0 respectively) confirms the improvement in optical properties of silica which is an effect of silver in enhancing the optical properties of silica. Therefore, silica-silver nanocomposite can be used for various optical materials.