Synthesis and characterizations of silver-fullerene C(70) nanocomposite

Films of C(70) fullerene containing silver nanoparticles were synthesized by thermal codeposition. Optical absorption studies revealed that surface plasmon resonance of Ag nanoparticles occurs at unusually large wavelength, which showed a regular redshift from 521 to 581 nm with increase in metal content from 4.5% to 28%. It is explained by the Maxwell-Garnett theory considering the absorbing nature of fullerene matrix. Rutherford backscattering and transmission electron microscopy were performed to quantify metal content and the particle size, respectively. A better detection of low intensity vibrational modes of C(70) in Raman scattering is observed due to surface enhanced Raman scattering. (c) 2008 American Institute of Physics