A facile one-pot synthesis and characterization of Ag2Se nanoparticles at low temperature

• A facial one-pot synthesis method at low temperature for Ag2Se nanoparticles has been developed.
• A selenium source, Na2SeSO3, has been synthesized by microwave-enhanced method.
• Nearly uniform morphology of Ag2Se nanoparticles has been prepared.

A facile one-pot synthesis method has been developed successfully for the preparation of crystalline silver selenide (Ag2Se) nanoparticles at low temperatures (5–7 °C) within few minutes. The method is based on the formation of phase separation and interface-reaction mechanism. During the synthesis, a microemulsion system (water/oleic acid/n-hexane) was used to make Ag2Se nanoparticles. Selenium source (Sodium selenosulfate) used in this synthesis method was prepared by microwave heating due to the fact that the developed method of synthesis could eliminate toxic and expensive selenium sources. The prepared products (oleic acid coated Ag2Se nanoparticles) were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), energy-dispersive X-ray analysis (EDX), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), ultraviolet (UV)–visible analysis and photoluminescence (PL) analysis. The developed method became mild, fast, simple and environmentally benign, which would be helpful in scaling up production. Furthermore, the developed synthesis strategy could be used in making other nanoparticles for mass production through simple precipitation reactions.