Fabrication and Characterization of Silver Nanoparticles by Using a Low Energy Electron Accelerator with a Flow Reactor

The mass production of silver nanoparticles by using a low-energy-electron accelerator with a flow reactor was carried out. The flux of the silver precursor was 55 ml/min, and the electron beam's conditions were a fixed beam energy of 0.2 MeV and a beam current of 1 mA. The irradiation area and time were 8 cm × 2 cm and 9.7 seconds, respectively. The yield of silver nanoparticles was about 26.67% in a flow reactor. On the other hand, the yield of silver nanoparticles was around 9% in a batch reactor. Scanning electron microscopy-energy dispersive spectroscopy (SEM-EDS) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) showed a synthesis of pure silver nano particles whose surfaces were not oxidized. The size distribution of the fabricated silver nanoparticles was very uniform with sizes from 40 to 50 nm, and the sheet resistance measured using a four-point probe was lower than 3.5 mΩ/sq.