Synthesis and Characterization of Carbon Aerogels Electrodes Modified by Ag₂S Nanoparticles

In this work, electrodes based on carbon aerogels (CA) modified by Ag₂S nanoparticles (NPs) were synthesized by sputtering and solid-vapor reactions. Nanoparticles were identified as silver sulfide (acanthite phase) and their size was controlled by the sputtering time (5s deposition- 8.65 nm ± 1.74 nm, 7s deposition- 12.78 nm ± 8.53 nm and 45 s deposition- 21.35 nm ± 10.07 nm). It was found that the electrodes properties vary according to the Ag₂S NPs sizes. All modified electrodes exhibited an improved REDOX reactions reversibility, enhanced optical properties (0.97 to 1.22 eV optical bandgap) and electrical conductivity (8.60-9.40 S/cm) when compared with pure carbon aerogel electrodes (1.4 eV, 8.20 S/cm).

Keywords:
Carbon aerogel; Ag₂S nanoparticles; electrodes