R. Zakaria

One-pot sonochemical synthesis of reduced graphene oxide uniformly decorated with ultrafine silver nanoparticles for non-enzymatic detection of H2O2 and optical detection of mercury ions

Reduced graphene oxide (rGO) uniformly decorated with silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) was synthesized through the simple ultrasonic irradiation of an aqueous solution containing a silver ammonia complex (Ag(NH3)2OH) and graphene oxide (GO). The results of X-ray diffraction, Fourier-transform infrared transmission spectroscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and Raman spectroscopy confirmed the simultaneous formation of cubic-phase AgNPs and the reduction of GO through an ultrasonication process. The size of the nanoparticles could be tuned by adjusting the volume ratio of the precursors and the ultrasonic irradiation time. Transmission electron microscopy images showed a uniform distribution of ultrafine spherical AgNPs with a narrow size distribution on the rGO sheets, which could only be achieved using the silver ammonia complex, rather than silver nitrate, as the precursor. The average particle size of the silver with the narrowest size distribution was 4.57 nm. The prepared AgNPs–rGO modified glassy carbon electrode exhibited notable electrocatalytic activity toward the non-enzymatic detection of H2O2 with a wide linear range of 0.1–70 mM (R2 = 0.9984) and a detection limit of 4.3 μM. Furthermore, the prepared AgNPs–rGO composite was employed for the spectral detection of Hg2+ ions and showed a detection limit of 20 nM.

Sonochemical synthesis of reduced graphene oxide uniformly decorated with hierarchical ZnS nanospheres and its enhanced photocatalytic activities

Reduced graphene oxide (rGO) decorated with zinc sulphide nanospheres (ZnSNSs) was synthesized through the simple ultrasonic irradiation of an aqueous solution containing zinc acetate dihydrate (Zn(CH3COO)2·2H2O), thioacetamide (C2H5NS), and graphene oxide (GO). The results of X-ray diffraction, Fourier-transform infrared transmission spectroscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and Raman spectroscopy confirmed the simultaneous formation of cubic-phase ZnSNSs and the reduction of GO through the ultrasonic irradiation process. Field emission scanning electron microscope images showed that the size and number density of the nanoparticles could be tuned by adjusting the precursor amounts. Transmission electron microscopy images showed that the spherical ZnS nanoparticles were comprised of small nanoparticles with an average size of ∼5 nm aggregated together. The result of photoluminescence spectroscopy and Brunauer–Emmett–Teller (BET) measurement demonstrated that the incorporation of reduced graphene oxide (rGO) sheets with ZnSNSs suppressed the electron–hole recombination and increased the surface area of the composite. Hence, a significant enhancement in the photocatalytic degradation of methylene blue (MB) was observed with the ZnSNSs–rGO nanocomposite, compared to the bare ZnS particles.

Surface plasmon resonance and photoluminescence studies of Au and Ag micro-flowers

The surface plasmon resonance (SPR) and photoluminescence characteristics of gold and silver micro-flowers were compared to those of gold and silver nanoparticles. The micro-flower structures were grown under electron beam deposition using an alumina template. Both types of metallic micro-flowers showed systematic arrangements; they formed islands of flowers about 20 µm across, each one comprised of spikes ranging from 1 to 5 µm in length. A red shift in the SPR and enhancement intensity was observed for both micro-flowers and nanoparticles; the incremental increase was more than 50%. These results, which showed that gold and silver micro-flowers agglomerate at a micron size scale, are useful for the design of easier and more cost effective methods for large area fabrication, especially for particular plasmonic applications.

Adaptive Neuro-Fuzzy Appraisal of Plasmonic Studies on Morphology of Deposited Silver Thin Films Having Different Thicknesses

This work presents an experimental analysis on the tunable localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR), obtained from deposited silver (Ag) thin films of various thicknesses. Silver thin films are prepared using electron beam deposition and undergo an annealing process at different temperatures to produce distinctive sizes of Ag metal nanoparticles (MNPs). The variability of structure sizes and shapes provides an effective means of tuning the position of the LSPR within a wide wavelength range. This paper provides an estimation of LSPR over a broad wavelength range by a process in which the resonance spectra of silver nanoparticles differing in thickness are simulated using an adaptive neuro-fuzzy inference system (ANFIS) method. The ANFIS methodology allows for estimation of sizes of granular structures formed on top of a wafer at certain temperatures, whereupon these intelligent estimators are implemented using MATLAB and their subsequent performances are investigated. The results presented in this paper show the effectiveness of the method of simulation.

Fabrication and simulation studies on D-shaped optical fiber sensor via surface plasmon resonance

Abstract This paper describes simulation and experimental methods for designing a D-shaped surface plasmon resonance (SPR) fibre sensor. The sensor consists of two set-up approaches. Finite element method is used in simulation on the fibre sensor device. Two experimental methods for detecting relative intensity are used by varying the wavelength of the optical signal sources and the thickness of gold layer coated on the D-shaped fibre. In the first method, the sensor device works by detecting the relative intensity of two optical signal sources having different wavelengths. In the second set-up, the relative intensity between two D-shaped fibres coated with different thicknesses of gold is measured when a single signal source is launched at the input. The difference in intensities of the signal outputs is used to estimate the refractive index at the sensing region. A prototype SPR D-shaped fibre sensor has been fabricated and the experimental results show good agreement with simulation.

Q-Switching Pulse Operation in 1.5-μm Region Using Copper Nanoparticles as Saturable Absorber

We demonstrate a passively Q-switched erbium-doped fiber laser (EDFL) using a copper nanoparticle (CuNP) thin film as the saturable absorber in a ring cavity. A stable Q-switched pulse operation is observed as the CuNP saturable absorber (SA) is introduced in the cavity. The pulse repetition rate of the EDFL is observed to be proportional to the pump power, and is limited to 101.2 kHz by the maximum pump power of 113.7mW. On the other hand, the pulse width reduces from 10.19μs to 4.28μs as the pump power is varied from 26.1mW to 113.7mW. The findings suggest that CuNP SA could be useful as a potential saturable absorber for the development of the robust, compact, efficient and low cost Q-switched fiber laser operating at 1.5-μm region.

Low-Cost Transducer Based On Surface Scattering Using Side-Polished D-Shaped Optical Fibers

This work presents a new low-cost and environmentally friendly optical transducer based on surface scattering in a side-polished fiber mounted on a glass groove. The surface roughness caused by polishing is used to estimate the change in refractive index on top of the fiber. Changing the surrounding index affects the scattering properties and, consequently, the leakage of the guided mode. This effect is experimentally investigated through the change in the attenuation coefficient when the surrounding refractive index is changed by dropping different weight ratios of glucose solutions onto the polished side. The measured change of the attenuation coefficient is consistent with the finite-element calculations. The effect of different polished depths was theoretically investigated to optimize the working conditions.

Z-scan studies of the nonlinear optical properties of gold nanoparticles prepared by electron beam deposition.

This paper details the fabrication process for placing single-layer gold (Au) nanoparticles on a planar substrate, and investigation of the resulting optical properties that can be exploited for nonlinear optics applications. Preparation of Au nanoparticles on the substrate involved electron beam deposition and subsequent thermal dewetting. The obtained thin films of Au had a variation in thicknesses related to the controllable deposition time during the electron beam deposition process. These samples were then subjected to thermal annealing at 600°C to produce a randomly distributed layer of Au nanoparticles. Observation from field-effect scanning electron microscope (FESEM) images indicated the size of Au nanoparticles ranges from ∼13 to ∼48  nm. Details of the optical properties related to peak absorption of localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR) of the nanoparticle were revealed by use of UV-Vis spectroscopy. The Z-scan technique was used to measure the nonlinear effects on the fabricated Au nanoparticle layers where it strongly relates LSPR and nonlinear optical properties.

Evaluation of the tapered PMMA fiber sensor response due to the ionic interaction within electrolytic solutions

A tapered plastic multimode fiber (PMMA) optical sensor is proposed and demonstrated for continuous monitoring of solutions based on different concentration of sodium chloride and glucose in deionized water The tapered PMMA fiber was fabricated using an etching method involving deionized water and acetone to achieve a waist diameter and length of 0.45 mm and 10 mm, respectively, and was used to investigate the effect of straight, U-shape, and knot shape against concentration for both sodium chloride and glucose. The results show that there is a strong dependence of the electrolytic and non-electrolytic nature of the chemical solutions on the sensor output. It is found that the sensitivity of the sodium chloride concentration sensor with the straight tapered fiber probe was 0.0023 mV/%, which was better than the other probe arrangements of U-shape and knot. Meanwhile, the glucose sensor performs with the highest sensitivity of 0.0026 mV/wt % with the knot-shaped tapered fiber probe. In addition, a tapered PMMA probe which was coated by silver film was fabricated and demonstrated using calcium hypochlorite (G70) solution. The working mechanism of such a device is based on the observed increment in the transmission of the sensor that is immersed in solutions of higher concentration. As the concentration varies from 0 ppm to 6 ppm, the output voltage of the sensor increases linearly from 3.61 mV to 4.28 mV with a sensitivity of 0.1154 mV/ppm and a linearity of more than 99.47%. The silver film coating increases the sensitivity of the proposed sensor due to the effective cladding refractive index, which increases with the coating and thus allows more light to be transmitted from the tapered fiber.

Adaptive Neuro-Fuzzy Evaluation of the Tapered Plastic Multimode Fiber Based Sensor Performance with and Without Silver Thin Film for Different Concentrations of Calcium Hypochlorite

An adaptive neurofuzzy (ANFIS) evaluation study has been applied on tapered plastic multimode sensors. This study is basically using tapered plastic multimode fiber polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA) optical as a sensor. It is proposed and demonstrated for continuous monitoring of solutions based on different concentration of sodium chloride and glucose in deionized water. The tapered PMMA fiber was fabricated using an etching method involving deionized water and acetone to achieve a waist diameter and length of 0.45 and 10 mm, respectively. In addition, a tapered PMMA probe, which was coated by silver film, was fabricated and demonstrated using calcium hypochlorite (G70) solution. The working mechanism of such a device is based on the observation increment in the transmission of the sensor that is immersed in solutions at higher concentration. As the concentration varies from 0 to 6 ppm, the output voltage of the sensor increases linearly from 3.61 to 4.28 mV with a sensitivity of 0.1154 mV/ppm and a linearity of more than 99.47%. The silver film coating increases the sensitivity of the proposed sensor due to the effective cladding refractive index, which increases with the coating and thus allows more light to be transmitted from the tapered fiber. To estimate the output voltage response of the sensors with and without silver film, this paper constructed a process, which simulates the sensors voltage output in regard to different concentration of calcium hypochlorite with ANFIS method. This intelligent estimator is implemented using MATLAB/SIMULINK and the performances are investigated. The simulation results presented in this paper show the effectiveness of the developed method.