Nanosecond probing of the early nucleation steps of silver atoms in colloidal zeolite by pulse radiolysis and flash photolysis techniques

Abstract

The process of formation and the subsequent aggregation of silver atoms (Ag0) in nanosized zeolite beta (BEA) are studied by transient absorption spectroscopy. The zeolite nanocrystals are stabilized in aqueous colloidal suspensions with a narrow particle size distribution in the range 30–60 nm. The reduction of silver cations is initiated either by pulse radiolysis of the aqueous suspension or by photoinduced electron transfer using an organic electron donor adsorbed in the zeolite framework. The silver atom in BEA nanosized crystals is found to be stable on the microsecond timescale.