Reduction and aggregation of silver in aqueous gelatin and silica suspensions

Abstract

The investigation of silver reduction and aggregation processes are of specific interest to the photographic industry, which relies heavily on photochemical equivalents of these reactions. Mechanistic insights into the formation of small silver clusters in aqueous solution have been obtained from both pulse and {gamma}-radiolytic studies. This paper examines the reduction of silver ions and the subsequent formation of silver clusters in aqueous gelatin solutions and on colloidal silica particles using the pulse radiolysis technique. The aggregation processes are compared with the parallel reactions in aqueous solutions.