Unraveling the formation of ternary AgCuSe crystalline nanophases and their potential as antibacterial agents

AgCuSe nanoparticles could contribute to the growth of strongly light-absorbing thin films and solids with fast ion mobility, among other potential properties. Nevertheless, few methods have been developed so far for the synthesis of AgCuSe nanoparticles, and those reported deliver nanostructures wi...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores: Lin, Mengxi, Vargas, Beatriz, Yedra Cardona, Lluís, van Gog, Heleen, van Huis, Marijin, Mendes, Rafael, Llorca Piqué, Jordi|||0000-0002-7447-9582, Estruch Blasco, Manel, Pernia Leal, Manuel, Pajuelo, Eloísa, Estradé Albiol, Sònia, Peiró Martínez, Francesca, Rodriguez Raurell, Laura, Figuerola, Albert
Tipo de recurso: artículo
Fecha de publicación:2024
País:España
Institución:Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya (UPC)
Repositorio:UPCommons. Portal del coneixement obert de la UPC
Idioma:inglés
OAI Identifier:oai:upcommons.upc.edu:2117/417745
Acceso en línea:https://hdl.handle.net/2117/417745
https://dx.doi.org/10.1021/acs.chemmater.4c01604
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palabra clave:Chemical reactions
Diffraction
Gold
Precursors
Transmission electron microscopy
Àrees temàtiques de la UPC::Enginyeria química
Descripción
Sumario:AgCuSe nanoparticles could contribute to the growth of strongly light-absorbing thin films and solids with fast ion mobility, among other potential properties. Nevertheless, few methods have been developed so far for the synthesis of AgCuSe nanoparticles, and those reported deliver nanostructures with relatively large sizes and broad size and shape distributions. In this work, a colloidal cation exchange method is established for the easy synthesis of AgCuSe NPs with ca. 8 nm diameters and narrow size dispersion. Notably, in this lower size range the conucleation and growth of two stoichiometric ternary compounds are generally observed, namely the well-known eucairite AgCuSe compound and the novel fischesserite-like Ag3CuSe2 phase, the latter being less thermodynamically stable as predicted computationally and assessed experimentally. An optimal range of Cu/Ag precursor molar ratio has been identified to ensure the growth of ternary nanoparticles and, more specifically, that of the metastable Ag3CuSe2 nanophase isolated for the first occasion. The attained size range for the material paves the way for utilizing AgCuSe nanoparticles in new ways within the field of biomedicine: the results obtained here confirm the antibacterial activity of the new AgxCuySez nanoparticles against Gram-positive bacteria, with significantly low values of the minimal inhibitory concentration.