Synthesis of silver selenide bicomponent nanoparticles by a novel technique: Laser-solid-liquid ablation

A novel laser-solid-liquid ablation technique has been developed to synthes ize Ag2Se nanoparticles; from silver nitrate and selenium powder in a mixed solvent of 2-propanol and ethylenediamine. The products were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), and tr ansmission electron microscopy (TEM). The XRD indicated that the products w ere the single phase of silver selenide. The TEM images revealed that the a s-prepared Ag2Se grains were homogeneous and spherical, and their average s ize was about 30 nm. This novel technique can be extended to prepare other nanoparticles of various compositions. (C) 2001 Academic.