Radiation-Chemical Reduction of Silver Ions in Polyelectrolyte Matrix‒Carboxymethyl Chitin

Abstract

To study the effect of pH of the medium on the formation of clusters and silver nanoparticles in a polyelectrolyte matrix, 6-O-carboxymethyl chitin was synthesized in three forms: salt, acid, and mixed. It was shown that the sorption ability in relation to silver ions of salt and mixed form is 62%; for the acid form of 6-O-carboxymethyl chitin, a decrease in this index to 58% was noted. The radiation-chemical synthesis of silver nanoparticles from ions at an irradiation dose of 10 kGy in a solution of the salt form of 6-O-carboxymethyl chitin results in the formation of stable, uniform nanoparticles of spherical shape with a size of 0.1–4.5 nm at different degrees of filling of the macromolecule with metal ions. When the mixed form of 6-O-carboxymethyl chitin was used as a matrix, the increase in the size of silver nanoparticles to 10–12 nm was noted by the results of TEM, and the formation of associated silver nanoparticles was recorded for the acid form of 6-O-carboxymethyl chitin.