Scanning Tunneling Microscopy Investigations of Colloidal Silver: Surface Structure and Aggregation Behavior Induced by Chlorion

Publisher Website
Google Scholar
Abstract
The surface structure and aggregation behavior induced by NaCl of colloidal silver particles have been investigated by scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The TEM and STM results clearly revealed that the yellow silver colloid consists of nanometer-scale particles with sizes ranging from 5 to 15 nm in diameter. In the case of STM images of the Ag particles, we found that the Ag particles were firmly attached to the highly oriented pyrolitic graphite (HOPG) surfaces. Moreover, STM images with up to atomic resolution showed that the surfaces of the silver particles are not very flat, however, individual adatoms on the Ag surfaces can be distinguished. Furthermore, the change of the aggregation state of Ag colloids induced by the addition of NaCl, from primary dispersed grains to rodlike clusters, was also demonstrated by absorption spectroscopy, TEM and STM.

This publication has 21 references indexed in Scilit: