Formation of Nano-Sized Silver Particles during Thermal and Photochemical Decomposition of Silver Carboxylates

Abstract

The changes in the morphology and structure of silver carboxylates during thermal and photochemical decomposition were investigated using TEM, x-ray diffraction, and DTA. Thermal and photochemical decomposition of long chain silver carboxylates were both found to form nano-sized silver particles (3–5 nm). This type of metallic silver formation can be directly attributed to the layered structure of the solid state structure of the [Ag(O2CnH2n−1)]2 dimers in the crystalline lattice. In addition, this type of metallic silver was observed to be influenced by the organic by-products formed, which can hinder the addition of new silver atoms to the growing metal crystallite.