Control of Shell Thickness in Silica-Coating of AgI Nanoparticles

Silica-coating of AgI nanoparticles with a Stöber method was carried out to find out reaction conditions for control of the shell thickness. The AgI nanoparticles were prepared from AgClO4 and KI with the use of 3-mercaptopropyltrimethoxysilane (MPS) as a silane coupling agent and dimethylamine (DMA) catalyst for alkoxide hydrolysis. The silica-coating was performed at 4.5×10-6-4.5×10-5 M MPS, 11-20 M water, 0.002-0.1 M DMA and 0.005-0.04 M tetraethylorthosilicate at AgI concentrations of 0.1-1 mM. Consequently, AgI-silica core-shell particles could be prepared with the use of 4.5×10-5 M MPS, 20 M water, 0.01 M DMA and 1 mM AgI. Silica shell thickness could be varied from 15 to 28 nm with an increase in the TEOS concentration from 0.005 to 0.04 M.