Synthesis of β-phase Ag1−xCuxI (x = 0–0.5) solid solutions nanocrystals

A series of single β-phase nano-Ag1−xCuxI (x = 0–0.5) solid solutions powders were synthesized by wet-chemical–chelating reaction processing and citric acid used as complexing agent. The Ag1−xCuxI powders were determined by X-ray diffraction and transmission electron microscopy. It was demonstrated that the crystalline size and lattice parameter of the Ag1−xCuxI powders decrease with an increase in the amount of CuI substitution. The copper in the lattice of the Ag1−xCuxI can effectively prevent the crystalline growth of the Ag1−xCuxI powders and citrate used in the Ag1−xCuxI powders synthesized process can accelerate single β-phase crystalline structure formation.

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► Wet-chemical–chelating reaction processing has been used to synthesized A series of single β-phase nano-Ag1−xCuxI (x = 0–0.5) solid solutions powders.
► Citric acid as complexing agent takes part in the process of chemical reaction and the chemical reactions can be described in this paper.
► The lattice parameters have been ascertained by the results of XRD.
► Crystalline sizes, which decrease with copper iodide concentration increasing, have been demonstrated by XRD and TEM.