Synthesis of silver chloride nanocrystal on silk fibers

The synthesis of silver chloride nanocrystals on silk fiber is reported. The growth of the nanocrystal was achieved by sequential dipping of the silk fibers in alternating solution of either silver nitrate or sodium chloride followed by a rinse step. The negative charge present at the surface of the fibers can immobilize silver ions which react in the next sodium chloride bath to form an initiator seed of silver chloride. The repeated alternating dipping of the fiber in the different solutions leads to the growth of AgCl nanocrystals. After 20 alternating dipping steps, the formation of cubic AgCl nanocrystal was observed by SEM, which revealed the presence of 100 nm cubes on the silk fiber. The crystallographic nature of the AgCl crystals was confirmed by X-ray diffraction which confirmed the presence of characteristics diffraction peak of AgCl and a cell size of 5.549 angstrom. The resulting fiber coated with nano-AgCl crystals could be used as a photocatalyst in water splitting applications or as an antibacterial agent. (c) 2006 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.