Synthesis of nanostructured Ag-Cu alloy ultra-fine particles

We report Ag-Cu solid solution formation by chemical reduction of silver and copper salts in aqueous medium. Depending on the proportion of silver and copper salts taken, varied degrees of solid solubility in the Ag-Cu system are observed. In most systems, we have got hexagonal Ag(rich)-2H phase in addition to Ag-rich face centered cubic one. It seems that the formation of Cu-rich phase is facilitated by the presence of Ag(rich)-2H phase. (C) 2009 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.