Silver nanoparticle aggregation not triggered by an ionic strength mechanism

The synthesis of stable colloidal solutions of silver nanoparticles is a major goal in the industry to control their fate in aqueous solutions. The present work studies 10–20-nm silver nanoparticle aggregation triggered by the presence of chloride ions. The aggregation process was followed by UV–Vis–NIR spectroscopy and transmission electron microscopy. We found that the mechanism involved differs from the classic explanation of nanoparticle aggregation triggered by an increase in the ionic strength. Moreover, our results give evidence that even when nanoparticles are resistant to an increment of the total amount of ions, the formation of insoluble salts in the vicinity of the nanoparticle is enough to induce the aggregation. The presence of silver chloride around the silver nanoparticles was documented by an X-ray diffraction pattern and electrochemical methods because chloride anions are ubiquitous in real media; this alternative process jeopardized the development of many applications with silver nanoparticles that depend on the use of stable colloids.