title: Structural and thermal studies of silver nanoparticles and electrical transport study of their thin films.
abstract: This work reports the preparation and characterization of silver nanoparticles synthesized through wet chemical solution method and of silver films deposited by dip-coating method. X-ray diffraction (XRD), field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM), field emission transmission electron microscopy (FETEM), high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM), selected area electron diffraction (SAED), and energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDX) have been used to characterize the prepared silver nanoparticles and thin film. The morphology and crystal structure of silver nanoparticles have been determined by FESEM, HRTEM, and FETEM. The average grain size of silver nanoparticles is found to be 17.5 nm. The peaks in XRD pattern are in good agreement with that of face-centered-cubic form of metallic silver. TGA/DTA results confirmed the weight loss and the exothermic reaction due to desorption of chemisorbed water. The temperature dependence of resistivity of silver thin film, determined in the temperature range of 100-300 K, exhibit semiconducting behavior of the sample. The sample shows the activated variable range hopping in the localized states near the Fermi level.
authors.affiliation: King Abdullah Institute for Nanotechnology, King Saud University, Riyadh-11451, Saudi Arabia. majeed_phys@rediffmail.com.
authors.forename: Mohd Abdul
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Majeed Khan
authors.forename: Sushil
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kumar
authors.forename: Maqusood
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Ahamed
authors.forename: Salman A
authors.initials: SA
authors.lastname: Alrokayan
authors.forename: Mohammad Saleh
authors.initials: MS
authors.lastname: Alsalhi