Production of copper and brass nanoparticles upon laser ablation in liquids

The production of nanoparticles upon ablation of copper and brass by pulsed radiation from Nd:YAG and copper lasers in water, ethanol, and acetone is studied. The nanoparticles were investigated by the methods of X-ray diffractometry, optical spectroscopy, and transmission electron microscopy. The produced copper and brass nanoparticles were shown to exhibit a plasmon resonance lying in the visible spectral range near 580 and 510 nm. The brass nanoparticles produced by ablation in ethanol have a shell approximately 10-nm thick for an average dimension of 20–30 nm. A chemical modification of ethanol was observed, which manifested itself in the appearance of intense UV absorption bands. Upon laser irradiation of brass nanoparticles in a liquid their absorption spectrum gradually transformed into the spectrum of copper nanoparticles.