Coating a stainless steel plate with silver nanoparticles by the sonochemical method

Ultrasound irradiation is used for the deposition of silver nanoparticles with an average size of 40 nm on the surface of a stainless steel plate. The sonochemical reduction of an AgNO3 solution (water, ethylene glycol and aqueous ammonia) was carried out at 30 °C. Irradiation was done with a high intensity ultrasonic horn (Ti horn from Sonics and Materials VCX600, 20 kHz, 600 W at 70% efficiency) under an argon flow. The influence of the distance of the stainless steel plate from the sonicator tip varied, and a homogeneous coating without agglomeration was achieved at a distance of 1 cm. By controlling the reaction conditions and the distance from the tip we could achieve a homogeneous monolayer coating of silver nanoparticles on the stainless steel surface. The silver-deposited stainless steel plates were analysed by UV–visible, XRD, SEM and FIB analyses.