Analysis of the Influence of an XY Electronic Mechanism with UV-Vis Spectroscopy on the Production of Gold Nanoparticles by Laser Ablation for Applications in Environmental Nanosensing

The work consisted in analyzing the influence of an electronic positioning mechanism of an Au metal plate in the XY axes; to optimize the production of Au metal nanoparticles by laser ablation in sterile water samples as well as to obtain morphology and size required for environmental nanosensors. The positioning mechanism is constituted by two M35SP stepper motors of 5 V DC with a rotation angle of 7.5 & DEG; per step; the one that generates the displace-ment for each axis of XY coordinates, controlled by an algorithm implemented in Arduino Nano ATmega328, being the driver of the stepper motors the H-bridge of the L298N module, with which it was possible to set the speed to 2 mm/s, which enabled to make the wear of the metal plate uniform in the process of generation of gold nanoparticles (AuNPs). With the pulsed laser generator with ablation frequency of 10 Hz and wavelengths of 532 nm and 1064 nm, the Au metal plate was irradiated for 10 min, 20 min and 30 min. AuNPs were generated in colloidal state both for the process with fixed position of the metal plate and for the process using the electronic mechanism of XY positioning; they were characterized by UV-Vis spectroscopy with range from 300 nm to 850 nm. It was found that the production of AuNPs with the Au plates mobilized by the mechanism under study, gener-ates colloids of spherical AuNPs of smaller diameter, close to 10 nm, with an average reduction of 19% in relation to that generated with the fixed position plate; likewise, the concentration of the AuNPs increased by 20.40%; therefore, the influence of the XY positioning electronic mechanism was positive in the production of AuNPs with morphology and sizes suitable for use in environmental nanosensors.