A novel approach for preparing silver nanoparticles under electron beam irradiation

Silver (Ag) nanoparticles were obtained when Ag microparticles were exposed to an electron beam in a transmission electron microscope (TEM). Results from TEM characterization indicated that the morphologies of the prepared Ag nanoparticles were quasi-circular, and the sizes were mainly in the range of 5–60 nm. The effect of irradiation time (t) on size and distribution of Ag nanoparticles was investigated. It was found that the sizes of Ag nanoparticles increased with the increase of t. The bigger Ag nanoparticles were near the Ag microparticle and the smaller ones were far from it. In addition, these Ag nanoparticles were monodisperse. This approach offered a new route for preparing Ag nanoparticles under electron beam irradiation, and the forming process of Ag nanoparticles was explained by the nucleation-growth mechanism.