Synthesis of mixed silver halide nanocrystals in reversed micelles

Abstract

The specifics of the synthesis of silver halide nanocrystals of mixed composition and the core-shell structures in reversed micelles were experimentally studied. It was shown that homogeneous AgBrxI1 − x nanocrystals of ∼5 nm in size with the iodide concentration up to 70%, as well as the core-shell structures AgI/AgBr and AgBr/AgI, can be synthesized by the micellar synthesis. It was found that the relation of the crystalline structures of the core and shell materials plays an important role in the shell formation. The shell of γ-AgI alone is formed on the AgBr nanocrystals with a close lattice type, whereas β-AgI with the hexagonal lattice forms an individual phase of nanoparticles, rather than the shell.