Electron beam induced in-vacuo Ag deposition on TiO2 from ionic liquids

The present work describes electron beam induced Ag deposition from [BMIM][BF4] ionic liquid containing AgBF4 on anatase TiO2 surfaces. The procedure is directly performed in the ultra high vacuum chamber of a scanning electron microscope (SEM). Based on the experiments with reference surfaces (Au and amorphous TiO2) that do not show successful Ag deposition, it is proposed that the deposition mechanism is of pseudo-photocatalytic nature.