Facile Synthesis of Silver Nanoparticle/β-Tricalcium Phosphate Composites and Their Multifunctional Applications

Silver nanoparticle/β-tricalcium phosphate (Ag/β-TCP) composites were facilely prepared through in situ reduction deposition of Ag nanoparticles onto β-TCP porous nanoparticles and characterized by SEM, TEM, HRTEM, X-ray powder diffraction, XPS and UV-visible spectroscopy, which demonstrated that both the β-TCP porous nanoparticle carriers and the anchored Ag nanoparticles had a narrow size distribution range with their average particle sizes being 120 and 30 nm, respectively. Moreover, the plasmon coupling effects between adjacent Ag nanoparticles intensified as the loading amount of Ag nanoparticles increased, resulting in a significant red-shift and broadening of their UV-vis absorption peak. The as prepared Ag/β-TCP nanocomposites show excellent catalytic activity and stability during the reduction of 4-nitrophenol in the presence of NaBH4. Moreover, they can be used as a nanoprobe for highly sensitive and selective detection of hydrogen sulfide and a surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) substrate with a detection limit of 10–8 M for crystal violet. In light of these characteristics, the as prepared Ag/β-TCP nanocomposites show promising and great potential for multifunctional applications in catalysis, chemical sensing and SERS.