Sugar-Mediated Green Synthesis of Silver Selenide Semiconductor Nanocrystals under Ultrasound Irradiation.

Daniela Armijo García,Edward Ávila,Karla Vizuete,Marbel Torres Arias,Lupe Mendoza,Si Amar Dahoumane,Thibault Terencio,Alexis Debut,Clayton Jeffryes,Alex Gavilanes

doi:10.3390/molecules25215193

Abstract

Silver selenide (Ag2Se) is a promising nanomaterial due to its outstanding optoelectronic properties and countless bio-applications. To the best of our knowledge, we report, for the first time, a simple and easy method for the ultrasound-assisted synthesis of Ag2Se nanoparticles (NPs) by mixing aqueous solutions of silver nitrate (AgNO3) and selenous acid (H2SeO3) that act as Ag and Se sources, respectively, in the presence of dissolved fructose and starch that act as reducing and stabilizing agents, respectively. The concentrations of mono- and polysaccharides were screened to determine their effect on the size, shape and colloidal stability of the as-synthesized Ag2Se NPs which, in turn, impact the optical properties of these NPs. The morphology of the as-synthesized Ag2Se NPs was characterized by transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and both α- and β-phases of Ag2Se were determined by X-ray diffraction (XRD). The optical properties of Ag2Se were studied using UV–Vis spectroscopy and its elemental composition was determined non-destructively using scanning electron microscopy–energy-dispersive spectroscopy (SEM–EDS). The biological activity of the Ag2Se NPs was assessed using cytotoxic and bactericidal approaches. Our findings pave the way to the cost-effective, fast and scalable production of valuable Ag2Se NPs that may be utilized in numerous fields.

Highlights

Semiconductor materials are technologically important due to their size-dependent optical, structural and electrical properties [1,2]
The results clearly show that the reaction mixture silver and selenium precursors, in addition to fructose and starch as the reducing and stabilizing agents, containing silver and selenium precursors, in addition to fructose and starch as the reducing and respectively, turns from white to brown after US irradiation (Figure 1A)
Containing only 3.4 mM [Ag+ ] and 1.7 mM [Se4+ ] aqueous solutions showed no significant change in irradiated control containing fonly 3.4 mM [Ag+]ff and 1.7 mM [Se4+]f aqueous solutions showed no color (Figure 1B), confirming the effectiveness of fructose and starch as green agents when combined significant change in color (Figure 1B), confirming the effectiveness of fructose and starch as green with US energy to promote the production of Ag2 Se NPs

Summary

Introduction

Semiconductor materials are technologically important due to their size-dependent optical, structural and electrical properties [1,2]. Phase-change chalcogenides have the ability to alternate between amorphous and crystalline phases with exposure to controlled energy inputs, making them an important material for a wide range of optical and electronic applications [3,4,5,6]. Silver selenide (Ag2 Se), known as naumannite, is a semiconductor material as a bulk and rarely found in nature as a mineral. It belongs to I-VI compounds with an optical band gap of 1.2–1.8 eV [7]. Orthorhombic β-Ag2 Se is the most accepted crystal structure of Ag2 Se due to its relatively high Seebeck coefficient

Methods

Discussion

Conclusion