In situ fabrication of silver-based nanostructures using electron beam

Abstract

Herein, electron beam irradiation (EBI) was employed to in situ construct Ag-based micro/nanostructures. The composition of AgX@Ag (X = Cl⁻, Br⁻, etc.) composites and the size/morphology of silver nanoparticles (Ag-NPs) were tuned by adjusting the electron beam current density (EBCD) and the feeding dose of electrons. A hypothesis of gas–solid fluid-bed composed of atomic gas and nanocrystals is suggested to discuss the nanoparticle constructions with EBI. The low/medium EBCD creates a fixed fluid-bed for AgX@Ag-NPs and piled-pore architecture of Ag-NPs (PPA_Ag-NPs), while a high EBCD sets up a stirred fluid-bed for monodispersed Ag-NPs. Hopefully, this strategy would promote nanotechnology.