Formation of Ag Nanoparticles on β-Ag2WO4 through Electron Beam Irradiation: A Synergetic Computational and Experimental Study.

In the present work, a combined theoretical and experimental study was performed on the structure, optical properties, and growth of Ag nanoparticles in metastable β-Ag2WO4 microcrystals. This material was synthesized using the precipitation method without the presence of surfactants. The structural behavior was analyzed using X-ray diffraction and Raman and infrared spectroscopy.

Synthesis and characterization of metastable β-Ag2WO4: an experimental and theoretical approach.

Metastable silver tungstate (β-Ag2WO4) has attracted much attention lately because of its many potential applications. However, the synthesis of metastable phases of inorganic compounds is challenging because of the ease of transformation to the stable phase. We have overcome this challenge and have successfully synthesized β-Ag2WO4 microcrystals using a dropwise precipitation (DP) method in aqueous media at low temperature.

Structural and electronic analysis of the atomic scale nucleation of Ag on α-Ag2WO4 induced by electron irradiation.

In this work, we utilise a combination of theory, computation and experiments to understand the early events related to the nucleation of Ag filaments on α-Ag2WO4 crystals, which is driven by an accelerated electron beam from an electron microscope under high vacuum. The growth process and the chemical composition and elemental distribution in these filaments were analysed in depth at the nanoscale level using TEM, HAADF, EDS and XPS; the structural and electronic aspects were systematically studied in using first-principles electronic structure theory within QTAIM framework. The Ag nucleation and formation on α-Ag2WO4 is a result of the order/disorder effects generated in the crystal by the electron-beam irradiation.