Preparation of silver-montmorillonite nanocomposites by reduction with formaldehyde and borohydride

Abstract

Na-rich montmorillonite (MMT) was intercalated with silver cations, which were subsequently reduced with formaldehyde or sodium borohydride. The silver-montmorillonite nanocomposites were studied by UV-visible spectrometry, transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and X-ray diffractometry (XRD). The influence of different reducing agents on the dispersity and size of silver particles deposited on montmorillonite surface was investigated. The reduction with borohydride gives rise to uniformly dispersed silver particles with a narrow particle size distribution from 3 nm to 13 nm. Formaldehyde reduction forms unevenly dispersed particles with a much wider size distribution, ranging from 3 to 100 nm. In addition, some Ag2O particles were found among silver particles prepared with formaldehyde, likely as a result of incomplete reduction. Silver-montmorillonite composites prepared by reduction with borohydride and formaldehyde contain 2.4 wt% and 5.3 wt% of Ag, respectively.