Analysis of gold nanoparticles dispersed bismuth borate glass: effect of size and concentration

In the present report, the preparation of bismuth borate glass with molar composition 35Bi 2 O 3 -65B 2 O 3 containing 3 × 10 9 number of different size gold nanoparticles (10 nm, 40 nm and 100 nm) is done with conventional melt quench technique. No post treatment is carried out to disperse nanoparticles as the post-treated glasses contain crystals which act as scattering centres and reduce the efficiency of the material. The as-obtained glasses are characterised under several techniques to study structural, morphological, thermal and optical modifications in it with the variation in the size of the incorporated gold nanoparticles. X-ray diffraction confirms the amorphous nature of the prepared glass even with the addition of 3 × 10 9 number of gold nanoparticles. In addition, Fourier transformed infrared spectroscopy indicates that functional groups of glasses are BO 3 and BO 4 units. The presence of gold nanoparticles is confirmed from the images recorded by field emission scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy and spectra obtained from energy-dispersive spectroscopy. Thermal stability factor calculated from differential thermal analysis data confirms the increase in glass forming ability with the increase in particle size. Variation in optical response is studied by Uv–Vis transmission spectra. These glasses are found to be highly promising for the fabrication of optical devices.