The rapid and green formation of spherical and dendritic silver nanostructures based on microwave irradiation time was investigated. Silver nanoparticles were successfully fabricated by reduction of Ag+ in a water medium and using polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP) as the stabilizing agent and without the use of any other reducing agent, and were compared with those synthesized by conventional heating method. UV–vis absorption spectrometry, transmission electron microscopy (TEM), atomic absorption spectroscopy (AAS) and photon correlation spectroscopy (PCS) measurements, indicated that increasing the irradiation time enhanced the concentration of silver nanoparticles and slightly increased the particle size. There was a lack of large silver nanoparticles at a high concentration, but interestingly, the formation and growth of silver dendrite nanostructures appeared. Compared to conventional heating methods, the silver nanoparticle suspension produced by irradiated microwaves was more stable over a six-month period in aqueous solution without any signs of precipitation.

In this paper, we report how few layers graphene that can be produced in large quantity with low defect ratio from exfoliation of graphite by using a high intensity probe sonication in water containing liquid hand soap and PVP. It was founded that the graphene powder obtained by this simple exfoliation method after the heat treatment had an excellent exfoliation into a single or layered graphene sheets. The UV-visible spectroscopy, FESEM, TEM, X-ray powder diffraction and Raman spectroscopy was used to analyse the graphene product. The thermal diffusivity of the samples was analysed using a highly accurate thermal-wave cavity photothermal technique. The data obtained showed excellent enhancement in the thermal diffusivity of the graphene dispersion. This well-dispersed graphene was then used to fabricate an electrically conductive polymer-graphene film composite. The results demonstrated that this low cost and environmental friendly technique allowed to the production of high quality layered graphene sheets, improved the thermal and electrical properties. This may find use in the wide range of applications based on graphene.

In this paper we have done a comparative study on efficiency of natural polymers for stabilizing silver nanoparticles (Ag-NPs) prepared by laser ablation technique. The selected polymers are starch (St), gelatin (Gt) and chitosan (Ct). The fabrication process was carried out through ablation of a pure Ag plate by nanosecond Q-switched Nd-Yg pulsed laser (λ = 532 nm, 360 mJ/pulse). The stability of the samples was studied by measuring UV-visible absorption spectra of the samples one month after preparation. The result showed that the formation efficiency of NPs in St were highest and also the prepared NPs in St solution were more stable than other polymers during one month storage.

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NiFe 2 O 4 prepared via the sol-gel technique were pre-sintered at 900°C and synthesized at different sintering temperatures from 1,000°C to 1,200°C at 100°C intervals. The samples were characterized for microwave dielectric properties. These samples were measured using Agilent Impedance/Material Analyzer at frequencies 1 MHz to 1.8 GHz. Results showed a decrease in the dielectric constant and loss factor with frequency except at the turning point, around 150 MHz, where the loss factor showed a gradual increase. However, both the dielectric constant and loss factor increase with increasing sintering temperature. The grain size and density also increased with increasing sintering temperature, but the porosity and grain boundary density showed a decrease.