LAUSR

In this study, we have proposed the first synthesis process of CeO2@Ag core/shell nanoparticles NPs by laser ablation in water. The optical and structural properties of CeO2@Ag core/shell NPs were characterized using UV-Vis absorption, Fourier transformed infrared FT-IR spectroscopy, x-ray diffraction XRD, scanning electron microscope SEM, energy dispersive x-ray EDX, and transmission electron microscopy TEM. The XRD data confirm the existence of two diffraction peaks related to the crystalline CeO2 nanoparticles (core) of cubic fluorite phase which highly oriented along (200) plane and the second peak is related to the Ag nanoparticles (shell) of cubic structure. UV-Vis absorption revealed that a sharp absorption peak was observed at 310 nm and the optical energy gap of the synthesized CeO2@Ag core/shell NPs was 3.6 eV, while the energy gap of ceria nanoparticles was 3.1 eV. FT-IR results show presence of absorption peak at 550 cm−1, which belonged to Ce-O stretching mode. TEM investigation shows formation of spherical CeO2@Ag core/shell with average core size of 35 nm and shell thickness of 15 nm.