Synthesis and characterization of titania-coated silver nanoparticles.

Silver particles of 70 +/- 10 nm mean diameter were coated with uniform layers of amorphous titania by the hydrolysis and polycondensation process using titanium(IV) n-butoxide in aqueous solution. Because of the large dielectric function of titania, a shift to the longer wavelengths was observed for the plasmon resonance maximum of coated silver nanoparticles. By changing the alkoxide to particles ratio in the reaction mixture, thickness ranging from 5 to 20 nm was obtained. Hydrothermal treatment performed on coated particles at 350 degrees C for 4 h converted amorphous titania to the anatase crystalline form. The anatase form was confirmed by X-ray powder diffraction. More red shift of the plasmon resonance was observed for the hydrothermally treated samples compared with the particles coated with amorphous titania.