Glass films containing silver chloride were prepared by the sol gel me
thod. The films darkened upon irradiation with sunlight or UV-light an
d were bleached reversibly by exposed to nitric acid vapors. The mecha
nism of the reversible bleaching is deduced from optical spectra, x-ra
y diffraction (XRD) and x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). The si
lver chloride particles that were dispersed isotropically before expos
ure to light acquire a preferred orientation after repeating darkening
and bleaching cycles.