Abstract
We achieved sputter deposition of silver atoms onto liquid alcohols by injection of solvents into vacuum via a liquid microjet. Mixing silver atoms into ethanol by this method produced metallic silver nanoparticles. These had a broad, log-normal size distribution, with median size between 3.3 ± 1.4 nm and 2.0 ± 0.7 nm, depending on experiment geometry; and a broad plasmon absorption band centred around 450 nm. We also deposited silver atoms into a solution of colloidal silica nanoparticles, generating silver-decorated silica particles with consistent decoration of almost one silver particle to each silica sphere. The silver–silica mixture showed increased colloidal stability and yield of silver, along with a narrowed size distribution and a narrower plasmon band blue-shifted to 410 nm. Significant methanol loss of 1.65 × 10−7 mol MeOH per g per s from the mature silver–silica solutions suggests we have reproduced known silica supported silver catalysts. The excellent distribution of silver on each silica sphere shows this technique has potential to improve the distribution of catalytically active particles in supported catalysts.
Highlights
The original motivation for solvated metal atom dispersion (SMAD) experiments was to generate highly reactive slurries of reactive metals which would be difficult to achieve by other means;[25] in general the process produces metal particles with un-terminated surfaces which are sufficiently reactive to readily undergo digestive ripening, whereby a polydisperse dispersion of metal particles can be re ned into a monodisperse colloid without signi cant mass loss.[26,27,28]
We have shown that it is possible to inject a liquid jet of ethanol or methanol into vacuum whilst simultaneously DC sputtering silver
The sputtered silver atoms can be captured in the liquid jet, or captured in the cold trap along with the liquid jet
Summary
Chemical synthesis of nanoparticles is a very broad eld; with mature synthesis protocols for a wide range of particle chemistries, morphologies, shapes, sizes, stoichiometries, alloys and functionality; and sound empirical and theoretical understanding of the processes involved.[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12,13,14,15,16,17,18,19,20,21,22,23,24] Despite this success, there has been ongoing and intensifying work investigating “physical” methods of nanoparticle synthesis. The original motivation for SMAD experiments was to generate highly reactive slurries of reactive metals which would be difficult to achieve by other means;[25] in general the process produces metal particles with un-terminated surfaces which are sufficiently reactive to readily undergo digestive ripening, whereby a polydisperse dispersion of metal particles can be re ned into a monodisperse colloid without signi cant mass loss.[26,27,28]
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