Synthesis of high effective surface area silver nano-particles embedded in an aluminum porous matrix

Abstract

In the present work the possibility of obtaining silver nano-particles embedded in a high surface area alumina film was studied. For this, Ag-Al alloys of compositions around 95 %wt were metallurgically prepared by encapsulating Ag (99.99 Ag %) powder and Al (99.99 Al %) pieces in a quartz ampoule under low vacuum (pO2 ≈ 10 -2 atm.). After homogenization at 800°C for periods between 3 and 8 h the quartz ampoule was quenched in water, to obtain a solid solution. Porous anodizing of the alloy in 4% H2SO4 at room temperature was used to obtain the Ag particles-Al2O3 high surface area film. The obtained sample was characterized using Scanning Electron Microscopy in the backscattering electron contrast imaging provided with energy dispersive X-Ray microanalysis (SEM/EDS) and by X-Ray Diffraction (DRX).