A simple aqueous solution based chemical methodology for synthesis of Ag nanoparticles dispersed on mesoporous silicate matrix

A simple chemical method has been developed for preparation of Ag nanoparticles dispersed on mesoporous silicate matrix, SBA-15. Ag nanoparticles were uniformly dispersed on SBA-15 matrix by using the reduction reaction of AgNO3 with trisodium citrate. The synthesized materials were characterized by using room temperature powder XRD analysis, N2 adsorption–desorption isotherm, high resolution TEM and SEM. It was observed that the synthesized SBA-15 and Ag-SBA-15 have a surface area of 778 and 151 m2/g respectively. The synthesized materials have long range ordering of pores with narrow pore size distribution centered at ∼ 7 nm. Pore structure of SBA-15 remains preserved even after deposition of Ag nanoparticle. This chemical route reported here offers a simple method for preparation of Ag-SBA-15, where unagglomerated Ag nanoparticles (∼ 20 nm) are uniformly dispersed on SBA-15.