Department of Materials Science,
The Ängström Laboratory,
Uppsala University P.O. Box 534,
SE-751 21 Uppsala, Sweden
Abstract
An interdisciplinary approach to materials science is proposed, involving biological methods that complement existing physical and chemical coating techniques. Silver-dielectric composite thin films were produced by a bio-logical technique, using microbial biomass and metallic silver nanoparticles, biosynthesised in the bacterial strain Pseudomonas stutzeri AG259. The organic material, to-gether with the metal particles, is used as precursor for film synthesis. Heat treated films backed by a metal dis-played pronounced spectral selectivity of a kind that makes them interesting for photothermal conversion of solar energy. Tailoring of the optical properties of the films is discussed in terms of effective medium theory with respect to particle shape and metal volume fraction. The metal content of the films is controlled and monitored in-situ in the biological system.