A Master’s thesis submitted by student Fatima Mohammed Jassb, titled:
“Preparation of Silver Nanoparticles Using Pulsed Laser Ablation Technique and Studying the Effect of Number of Pulses on Material Characterization and Using Silver Nanoparticles as Water Treatment and Inhibitor for Staphylococcus aureus Growth”
was discussed at the Institute of Laser for Postgraduate Studies – University of Baghdad, under the supervision of Asst. Prof. Dr. Hanan Jaafar Taher.
This study aims to prepare silver nanoparticles using pulsed laser ablation technique at different numbers of pulses (1000, 2000, and 3000) and energies (100, 150, and 200) mJ from a less toxic silver plate in two types of liquids, deionized water and ethanol.
In addition, the effect of silver nanoparticles on blue dye pollutant in water was studied, as well as its spatial inhibition of bacterial growth.
The results showed that silver nanoparticles prepared at (3000) pulses and energy of (150) mJ are considered the best catalyst for the degradation of blue dye in water after exposure to 10 W light, and also the best and highest spatial bacterial growth inhibition against Staphylococcus aureus, where the spatial inhibition of the colony reached 24 mm.
X-ray diffraction technique proved the existence of silver nanoparticles peak at diffraction angle 38° and plane (111) for the cubic crystal structure, and also showed a decrease in crystal size with increasing laser pulses.
The study showed the shape of silver nanoparticles as spherical with uniform distribution. The thin film composition of silver nanoparticles deposited on a glass slide consists of the following elements (Silicon, Calcium, Sodium, Magnesium, and Silver) which were confirmed and detected using Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) and analysis.
According to Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM) technique and 2D and 3D images, the silver nanoparticles appeared spherical and brown in color. The results also showed an increase in the roughness rate of silver nanoparticles with increasing number of laser pulses, as well as an increase in the volumetric rate of particles and RMS.
The UV-Visible spectroscopy results showed the optical properties of silver nanoparticles prepared in deionized water, specifically absorbance and transmittance at wavelength (400) nm, while absorbance and transmittance of silver nanoparticles prepared in ethanol were at wavelength (200) nm. The results also showed increased absorbance with increasing number of laser pulses and decreased transmittance with increasing pulses.
