Production of silver nano-powders by electron beam evaporation

Evaporation of metallic silver was performed in Ar, N2 and He using the ELV-6 electron accelerator. The obtained ultra-dispersed powders with a particle size of 70-80 nm were investigated by XRD, HREM and UV-Vis spectroscopy. The structure of Ag(Ar) powder was shown to differ substantially from that of Ag(N2) by the presence of small oxide-like species of 10-20 nm on the particle surface. Catalytic activity of the powders in the reaction of ethylene epoxidation was also studied.