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Corrosion processes of triangular silver nanoparticles compared to bulk silver

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Abstract

Excessive corrosion of silver nanoparticles is a significant impediment to their use in a variety of potential applications in the biosensing, plasmonic and antimicrobial fields. Here we examine the environmental degradation of triangular silver nanoparticles (AgNP) in laboratory air. In the early stages of corrosion, transmission electron microscopy shows that dissolution of the single-crystal, triangular, AgNP (side lengths 50–120 nm) is observed with the accompanying formation of smaller, polycrystalline Ag particles nearby. The new particles are then observed to corrode to Ag2S and after 21 days nearly full corrosion has occurred, but some with minor Ag inclusions remaining. In contrast, a bulk Ag sheet, studied in cross section, showed an adherent corrosion layer of only around 20–50 nm in thickness after over a decade of being exposed to ambient air. The results have implications for antibacterial properties and ecotoxicology of AgNP during corrosion as the dissolution and reformation of Ag particles during corrosion will likely be accompanied by the release of Ag+ ions.

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Acknowledgments

This research was supported under Australian Research Council’s Discovery Projects funding scheme (Project Number DP120102545). The authors acknowledge the use of the facilities at the Monash Centre for Electron Microscopy and the assistance of Laure Bourgeois with sample preparation.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Mathematical and Physical Sciences, University of Newcastle, Callaghan, NSW, 2308, Australia

    V. J. Keast & T. A. Myles

  2. Institute for Nanoscale Technology, University of Technology Sydney, Broadway, Sydney, NSW, 2007, Australia

    N. Shahcheraghi & M. B. Cortie

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  1. V. J. Keast
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  2. T. A. Myles
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  3. N. Shahcheraghi
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  4. M. B. Cortie
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Correspondence to V. J. Keast.

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Keast, V.J., Myles, T.A., Shahcheraghi, N. et al. Corrosion processes of triangular silver nanoparticles compared to bulk silver. J Nanopart Res 18, 45 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11051-016-3354-9

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