In situ fabrication of polyacrylate-silver nanocomposite through photoinduced tandem reactions involving eosin dye

A silver-acrylate nanocomposite was prepared using a novel one-pot strategy involving eosin dye as visible sensitizer and an amine derivative as radicals source. The mechanism highlighted by steady state photolysis and time resolved absorption spectroscopy lies on the initial formation of a strong ion pair complex between eosin and Ag + . Upon visible irradiation, the excited triplet state of the metal complex efficiently abstracts a hydrogen atom from the amine and produces a -aminoalkyl radical. In acrylate monomer matrix, such a strong reactive species initiates a free radical photopolymerization and also provides the reduction of the silver cation. Through this „in-situ‟ fabrication method, the kinetics formation of the nanocomposite and its detailed structural analysis are characterized by UV-Visible, real-time FTIR absorption spectroscopy and by transmission electron microscopy.