Rivero Fuente, Pedro J.Goicoechea Fernández, JavierMatías Maestro, IgnacioArregui San Martín, Francisco Javier2015-09-252015-09-2520141556-276X (electronic)1931-7573 (print)10.1186/1556-276X-9-301https://academica-e.unavarra.es/handle/2454/18267UPNa. Departamento de Ingeniería Eléctrica y Electrónica. Laboratorio de Dispositivos Ópticos NanoestructuradosIn this work, a comparative study about the incorporation of silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) into thin films is presented using two alternative methods, the in situ synthesis process and the layer-by-layer embedding deposition technique. The influence of several parameters such as color of the films, thickness evolution, thermal post-treatment, or distribution of the AgNPs along the coatings has been studied. Thermal post-treatment was used to induce the formation of hydrogel-like AgNPs-loaded thin films. Cross-sectional transmission electron microscopy micrographs, atomic force microscopy images, and UV-vis spectra reveal significant differences in the size and distribution of the AgNPs into the films as well as the maximal absorbance and wavelength position of the localized surface plasmon resonance absorption bands before and after thermal post-treatment. This work contributes forapplication/pdfeng© 2014 Rivero et al.; licensee Springer. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly credited.Silver nanoparticlesThin filmsIn situ synthesis processLayer-by-layer embedding deposition techniqueinfo:eu-repo/semantics/articleinfo:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess