Preparation of ITO/Ag nanohybrid particles by a reverse micellar layer-by-layer coating

Silver (Ag) nanoparticles were adsorbed preferentially on indium tin oxide (ITO) surface to form composite particles using a reverse micellar layer-by-layer deposition. The micellar process stabilized the Ag particles by an anionic sodium bis(2-ethylhexyl) sulfosuccinate (AOT) surfactant in isooctane solvent. The ITO particles surface was mediated by a cationic poly(allylamine hydrochloride) (PAH) polyelectrolyte. The heterogeneous deposition was rendered by both electrostatic attraction and hydrophilic/hydrophobic interaction, and was carried out in multiple coating cycles. The resulting hybrid particles were characterized by zeta-potential measurement, electron microscopy, X-ray diffractometry, and inductively coupled plasma analysis, respectively. Optical transmittance of the ITO/Ag composite films was found to decrease substantially with the Ag deposition over the visible wavelengths range, arising mainly from scattering induced by the Ag nanoparticles.