Preparation of nanoporous silver micro-particles through ultrasonic-assisted dealloying of Mg-Ag alloy ribbons

• Nanoporous silver (NPS) micro-particles were prepared by dealloying of Mg-Ag alloy.
• Ultrasonic irradiation (UI) plays a key role in preparing the NPS micro-particles.
• The ligaments size of the NPS is insensitive to H+ concentration and UI intensity.
• Smaller NPS particles (50±20 μm) can be obtained in high concentration HCl solution.

Nanoporous silver (NPS) micro-particles were prepared successfully by combining high-intensity ultrasonic irradiation (UI) and chemical dealloying process of rapidly solidified Mg-Ag precursors. The length scale of the ligaments in NPS is 100±30 nm, which is insensitive to the concentration of the hydrochloric acid (HCl) solution and the intensity of the UI. However, smaller NPS micro-particles with a size of 50±20 μm can be obtained by dealloying the precursor ribbons in a much more concentrated HCl solution under UI. It is supposed that the cavitation phenomena induced by UI treatment may play a key role in disaggregating the precursor ribbons into the present NPS micro-particles during dealloying.

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