Optical transmittance was measured by a monochromatic Xe lamp and an Acton Research Corporation SpectraDrive spectrometer (Acton Research Corporation, Acton, MA, USA), and the incident light power data acquisition was recorded by a Newport dual-channel power meter model 2832-C power meter (Newport Corporation, Irvine, CA, USA). The parameters of each sample in the experiment are listed NU7441 in Tables 1 and 2. Table 1 List of BiNPs samples grown at 0.12 W/cm 2 with different deposition temperatures and time Number T (°C) P (W/cm2) t (s) Number T (°C) P (W/cm2) t

(s) Bi-101 RT 0.12 60 Bi-201 200 0.12 10 Bi-102 60 0.12 60 Bi-202 200 0.12 20 Bi-103 100 0.12 60 Bi-203 200 0.12 30 Bi-104 160 0.12 60 Bi-204 200 0.12 40 Bi-105 200 0.12 60 Bi-205 200 0.12 50 Bi-106 240 0.12 60 Bi-206 200 0.12 60 Table 2 List of BiNP samples grown at 0.12 W/cm 2 with different deposition temperatures Number Substrate T (°C) P (W/cm2) t (s) Bi-301 ITO glass 160 0.12 60 Bi-302 ITO glass 200 0.12 60 Bi-303 c-Al2O3 160 0.12 60 Bi-304 c-Al2O3 200 0.12 60 Results and discussion The SEM images of BiNPs of experiment A at six different temperatures (RT, 60°C, 100°C, 160°C, 200°C, and 240°C) are shown in Figure 1. Samples grown at low temperatures (RT, 60°C, and 100°C) can only be regarded as Bi

thin film samples. These samples have smooth surfaces with only a small amount of tiny BiNPs. Samples grown at high temperatures (160°C, 200°C, and 240°C), however, have a large amount of BiNPs. This observation can be clearly understood: in a low-temperature LY294002 supplier environment, the sputtered Bi composites do not have enough time to form larger crystals before being frozen. At around T = 160°C, a phase transition occurred during the deposition Amoxicillin process which kept the sputtered Bi in the liquid state for a sufficient amount of time. During this time, the stronger cohesion of the liquid Bi than the adhesion to the glass surface started to give these nanoparticles the ability to clear the neighborhood around

them. The cohesion of the liquid Bi becomes higher with temperature. This gives the selleck chemical explanation to the fact that while the sample grown at 160°C (Bi-104) has BiNPs with apparent edges and corners, the sample grown at 200°C (Bi-105) has BiNPs with spherical shape. Although samples grown over 200°C (Bi-106) did show BiNPs, the results were unstable as the temperature approached the melting point of Bi (271.4°C). The maximum possible temperature to grow a BiNP sample is 250°C, with most Bi composites vaporized after this point. The above results show that the best substrate temperature for feasibly making size-controllable BiNPs is 200°C, which leads us to the next stage of our experiment. Figure 1 SEM images of BiNPs deposited on glass substrates at different temperatures.